Aviva scorns Sandler's schemes

BRITAIN'S largest life assurer, Aviva, has dealt a blow to the Government's flagship plans to encourage people to save. It poured scorn on schemes devised in a Treasury review by former Lloyd's boss Ron Sandler for cheap mass-market products to bridge the £30bn savings gap

Aviva executive Philip Scott said it would 'not offer Sandler products at all' or only in limited areas, including high-value plans. The group, which owns Norwich Union, believes the 1% ceiling on charges would make the products unprofitable.

Scott said: 'No one in an open society can force companies to transact uneconomic business.'

The opposition from Aviva, led by Richard Harvey, is another big dent in ministers' grand schemes. Take-up of its low-cost stakeholder pension has been poor among the less well-off target group. But thousands of wealthier individuals have bought the tax-free plans for non-working wives or children.