Insurer says its sales have improved after 'incredibly disciplined' return to promoting products in high street branches

Aviva has seen a jump in sales of protection insurance as high street banks return to marketing such products following the PPI mis-selling scandal. Mark Wilson, the insurance and savings group’s chief executive, said some banks had installed sales staff in their branches to promote life insurance, though both they and Aviva are “incredibly focused and disciplined” about the sales process. He said they were “vanilla, run of the mill life insurance protection sales… back to what insurance should have done in the first place”. British banks have so far paid out £16.3bn to customers who were sold unsuitable PPI, according to the latest figures from the Financial Conduct Authority, but have since overhauled their staff training and appear to be gaining confidence in their ability to sell insurance. Overall, Aviva's UK business enjoyed an 18pc year-on-year jump in new business to £120m in the past three months, as increasing sales of protection insurance, bulk annuities and equity release products more than offset the slide in individual annuity sales. However, in the first nine months of the year, the firm's UK sales are 8pc behind last year at £303m.....Read more here