Aviva pledges over £4 million to Citizens Advice as the charity records busiest year on record

• Develop a dedicated customer referral service for Aviva’s 16 million UK customers in need of additional advice, which will be provided on a free, confidential, and impartial basis - strengthening the support already offered to vulnerable customers. 
• Fund staff across the UK to meet the growing demand for financial support and debt advice.
• Transform the way they deliver online advice using new technology to improve client experience and adviser productivity.
• Train some Aviva colleagues to become Citizens Advice telephone-based advisors one day a week.¹

The new nationwide referral service for Aviva’s vulnerable customers will launch in 2025 and be delivered by Citizens Advice Essex. A number of Aviva employees are currently undergoing training to quickly identify and refer customers who exhibit characteristics of personal and financial vulnerability. These customers will then be contacted by Citizens Advice within 48 working hours to help them find the resources they need to better understand and manage their finances and address any personal issues they face.

The news follows a successful two-year partnership formed in 2022 and takes Aviva’s total confirmed funding to Citizens Advice to more than £11 million. Aviva’s original investment supported the charity to:

• Employ 50 additional front-line staff across more than 30 UK locations.
• Increase capacity by 53% for Citizens Advice content team to support individuals seeking advice through the website.
• Help more than 120,000 additional clients, resulting in over £15.8 million in financial gains.
• Increase capacity to deliver advice through the Citizens Advice website by 10%.      

Claudine Blamey, Chief Sustainability Officer, Aviva, said: “We’re proud to see our partnership with Citizens Advice go from strength to strength and offer even better support to vulnerable customers. We’ve been helping our customers get ready for the future for over 325 years. From helping them prepare for retirement to being there when they face financial and health shocks - we know that building long-term financial resilience is key to creating stronger communities. By partnering with Citizens Advice, we can have a greater impact and better serve vulnerable customers facing financial difficulty.”

Sabrina Sallis, Head of Fundraising, Citizens Advice, said: “2024 was our busiest year on record. We are seeing huge demand for support across the UK, with people coming to us with more complex issues than ever before. Aviva’s funding has been vital for us in meeting this challenge. With additional support over the next few years, we know we can help more people navigate their problems and get the information they need to move forward with confidence.”

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References:

^{1. One day a week, for one year.}

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About Citizens Advice:

Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.

1. Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.

2. Citizens Advice helped 2.68 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2023-24. And we had 51.7 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.

3. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,000 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 service outlets across England and Wales.

4. Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.

5. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.