Our heritage

We can trace our heritage back to 1696. Our business began in an age of highwaymen, but is as relevant to customers today as it was then.

The Aviva Group Archive is the most important insurance industry archive in the United Kingdom.

It documents our 325+ years of history.

We hold records for the many hundreds of companies that have contributed to our heritage.

Features

Aviva’s archive needs you!

Aviva is inviting people to help map entries from historical policy registers using a new digital tool, developed in collaboration with Cambridge University. It provides extracts of digitised policy entries with automatic transcriptions produced using a handwriting recognition tool, helping users identify, and then map, policy details.

Coronations Past: Insurance insights from the Aviva archives

5 May 2023
Behind the doors of the Bridgertons' neighbours

3 May 2022
Peculiar claims, famous firsts and celebrated customers

24 Jan 2022
Our Anna: “Somebody claimed for a pickled egg that went missing”

24 Nov 2021
UK: From flaming false teeth to fire-damaged 'intimate articles': Aviva Reviews Historic Fire Claims To Mark 350th Anniversary Of Great Fire Of London

2 Sep 2016
UK: Aviva's archives reveal a 309-year history of life insurance

27 Aug 2015
Want more?

Unearth fascinating stories from our past on Medium.

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Legacy companies

For over three hundred years our ancestor companies have adapted to meet customers’ needs, just as we strive to do today.

Explore the A-Z of our most historically significant constituent companies.

Meet the ancestors

Did you know?

Our ancestors include the oldest mutual life insurer, one of the oldest fire insurers, the first company to issue a burglary policy, and the first and only insurance company to hold a royal warrant.

Trace the fascinating and complex history of Aviva with our timeline.