NU claims equity release top spot

Norwich Union (NU) says it has regained its position as the number one provider of equity release products following a series of product innovations and promotions during 2008.

The firm believes it has secured top spot after confirming revenue figures from reported sales of £249m compared to £242m for Prudential, the former frontrunner in the equity release market.

It highlighted a series of successes in 2008, including launching a proposition in Northern Ireland in January and increasing the LTV scale for its lifetime mortgages in April.

In May, the minimum cash payment for home reversion plans decreased from £25,000 to £15,000 while the home reversion cash-to-release scale jumped from 56% to 59%. This was followed by a product enhancement launch in August which involved introducing a new suite of lifetime mortgages titled 'Lifestyle'.

Norwich Union equity release has seen its market share increase between Q1 and Q4 in 2008 from 6.5% to 27% when dealing with advisers and 36% to 47% when dealing direct.

"Throughout the year we have consistently grown both our IFA and direct market share," says Dominic Fraser-Smith, group product manager at Norwich Union.

"According to SHIP figures the equity release market contracted by 9% in 2008, which makes the fact that we increased our business by 15% in this market even more incredible.

"We have already seen a strong start to 2009, and we look forward to building on this achievement to benefit both our customers and advisers even further in the future."

IFAonline