Royal London policyholders receive an average grant of €900

Approximately 93,000 people who have old Royal Liver, Caledonian Life and some Irish Life policies are envisaged an average replenishment of their policies of €900 on December 31st.

It follows Royal London’s acquisition of Royal Liver, which was approved in 2011 by the competition regulator in that country at the time.

Funds are paid out to policyholders by releasing a pot of money that was held back for a “rainy day fund” at the start of the takeover process – in case there were any claims against the company .

According to Royal London, 95.9 per cent of Irish policyholders voted for the freed funds to be added to the value of their policies.

The High Court in Dublin approved the scheme at a hearing last month.

In the UK, the vote was accepted with 96.41 per cent of policyholders who voted. The British system has now been approved by a British court.

“As the offer has been approved by both the UK and Irish courts, the money will be applied to the policies on 31 December 2022,” Royal London said.

Royal London’s acquisition of Royal Liver meant that Royal Liver became part of Royal London, the largest mutual life, pension and investment company in the UK.

Royal Liver used to have a huge insurance operation in this country with premiums collected door to door by people known as the Liver Men. Caledonian Life was taken over by Royal London at the same time Time like taking over Royal Liver and renamed Royal London.

Royal London is a mutual, meaning it is owned by its members and any excess financial benefits go to its policyholders.

Around 93,000 policyholders here who have endowment policies, lifetime policies and annuities are looking to increase the value of the plans.

There have already been some so-called distributions of funds from the Royal Liver acquisition to Irish policyholders.

These were in 2013, 2018, 2019 and earlier this year, with the amounts paid into policies depending on the size of the person’s policy. But this latest is the greatest.

Royal London said: “Whenever there is more money in the estate than is required, the extra money will be shared with eligible policyholders by increasing the underlying value of their policy.”

The payouts increase the underlying value of the policies by 23.1 percent. According to Royal London, this represents an average increase of just over €900 based on an average recoverable policy value of €4,000.

Some policies cost less than €100, others more than €100,000. The implications for policyholders will vary depending on the size and type of policy they hold. Royal London emphasized that the so-called “uplift” is not a cash payment. It increases the value of the individual’s policy and they benefit when the policy is claimed.