Don’t act on Budget tax raid speculation, Aviva boss warns customers

Fears of a Budget tax raid are stoking a surge of uncertainty among customers at insurance and pensions giant Aviva.

Savers have been contacting the company for advice amid ‘huge speculation’ about how Rachel Reeves will fill a £50billion black hole in October.

Boss Amanda Blanc warned over a repeat of last year when fears of a pension tax raid sparked frenzied activity across the sector.

Now, reports suggest the Chancellor could target inheritance tax by bringing in a lifetime cap on the value of gifts that people can pass on before they die.

Reeves is also said to be considering a shake-up of capital gains tax following an initial raid last year.

Tax raid? It has been reported that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering making changes to gifting rules in the Budget, with the aim of stopping people avoiding inheritance tax

Blanc said: ‘There has been a huge amount of speculation, and we also saw this in the last Budget with pensions.

‘Customers should wait and see what actually happens before they take any action. It is really important you don’t do anything detrimental.

‘What we are seeing is more conversations in our advice arm around tax planning and how [customers] approach that.

Her comments came as Aviva’s results showed that profits soared 22 per cent to £1.1billion in the first six months of the year compared to £875million a year earlier, beating analyst expectations.

Sales from insurance, wealth and retirement rose 9 per cent to £21.5 billion.

In a boost to shareholders, Aviva hiked its half-year dividend by 10 per cent to 13.1p. Shares rose 4 per cent this morning after the update.

Blanc said the integration of Direct Line is ‘well underway’ after Aviva snapped up its smaller rival for £3.7bn. The takeover was announced at the end of last year and completed in July.

All Aviva and Direct Line staff will receive £500 worth of free shares to celebrate the ‘milestone’ deal.

‘The combined business is a UK market leader with over 21 million customers, or 4 in 10 adults, and we are confident the deal will contribute significantly to Aviva’s future growth,’ Blanc said.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, said the firm is ‘going from strength to strength’.

‘The obvious attractions of a group which continues to play to its strengths has resulted in the share price having risen by 35 per cent over the last year, as compared to a gain of 10.7 per cent for the wider FTSE 100 and by 71 per cent over the last two years,’ Hunter said. 

‘Nor has appetite for the group and its prospects diminished.’

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘This buoyant performance has lit up the path ahead and it’s meant the company sees no change to its positive guidance ahead for 2026.’

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