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• Minimum purchase price for enhanced annuity halved, to £10,000
• Commission for enhanced annuity increased to 1.5% (plus uplift)
• "Lifestyle conditions" added to enhanced annuity illnesses.

Norwich Union, the UK's largest insurer, is updating its enhanced annuity offering. The enhancements bring about a reduction in the minimum purchase price for an enhanced annuity from £20,000 to £10,000 opening enhanced rates to an additional 15,000 people.

In addition, remuneration for advisers is being increased from 1% to 1.5% (plus uplift) to reflect the additional work that can be associated with enhanced annuity applications.

Norwich Union is also increasing the range of covered conditions to include certain "lifestyle conditions". Conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes may now affect annuity rates.

Scott Brown, head of annuities at Norwich Union, said: "The average size of a pension used to buy an annuity is currently £26,000 and taking a tax free lump sum will bring this amount down further. We want to ensure that in as many cases as possible, customers can benefit from an impaired annuity contract.

"For customer, applying for an impaired life annuity is simply a case of completing a few question, however we recognise that impaired annuities can require more management by an adviser on behalf of their client.  Given this we are increasing the remuneration paid on impaired annuities to reflect the workload and time taken in supporting clients through the application process".

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Robert Pell 01904 452659 Out of hours 07800 666563                    
Louise Soulsby 01904 452617 Out of hours 07800 699526

Notes to editors:

About Norwich Union
Norwich Union is the UK's largest insurer. It is a leading provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the largest financial adviser (FA) providers. FAs provide over 70% of the company's long-term savings business in the UK.

Norwich Union's news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.