With the acquisition of Countrywide by Connells Group in March 2021, the partnership provides an opportunity for Aviva to distribute its life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection cover through more than 1,250 high street estate agency branches, via Connells Group’s teams of mortgage consultants.

The enlarged Connells Group accounts for around 10% of all new estate agency instructions and had more than £30bn worth of mortgage applications submitted in 2020 across its entire business.

This new agreement covers the majority of estate agency brands now held by Connells Group and The New Homes Group.

Daren Boys, protection portfolio distribution director at Aviva, said: “We are delighted that Aviva continues to be the partner of choice for Connells Group and that we can deepen our close partnership. We already have fresh joint developments in the pipeline that will help drive further efficiency, improve the customer journey and protect even more customers’.

Adrian Scott, Connells Group mortgage services director, said: “We are really pleased to extend our successful partnership with Aviva with a new, single, long-term agreement for our estate agency business.

“Aviva provides a suite of great products for our customers, and we look forward to building on our strong relationship by developing into new areas over the coming months.”