Royal Liver Assurance was a friendly society with over 1.7 million members in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Subject to

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985 ...

(FSA) approval, Royal Liver and its subsidiaries became part of the

Royal London Group The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited, along with its subsidiaries, is the largest mutual insurer and investment company in the United Kingdom, and in the top 30 mutuals globally, with Group funds under management of £169 billion ...

on 1 July 2011.

History

The Liverpool Lyver Burial Society was founded by a group of working men from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the Lyver Inn on 24 July 1850 to "provide for the decent interment of deceased members". By 1857 the Society had moved to its fourth head office and had expanded throughout the

. By the end of the 1890s a decision was taken to build what would become the

Royal Liver Building The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's '' Three Graces'', which line th ...

; it opened on 19 July 1911. William Field was a managing director of Royal Livers Friendly Society in 1911. His Father, John Field, born 1820 was an agent for the Society by 1860. William Field is pictured in the 150-year Commemorate Book put out by the Society. It is believed that one of the pillars of the Royal Liver Building has the family Motto "Fair Field No Favours" on it. William Field died in 1916 while still employed by the Society. It is believed that others of the Field family were also involved with the management of the Society during this time. During the 20th century, Royal Liver Assurance expanded to cover the whole of

and the UK. Today, Royal Liver Assurance employs around 900 people, has approximately 3.4 million policies in force for 1.7 million members and manages more than £3.7 billion in funds. The Royal Liver Assurance has operated a delegation system since 1886; today, there are about 230 or so elected delegates. The Royal Liver Poetry of Place competition sees schoolchildren write poems about their favourite Liverpool places, which are voted for by the public via the Royal Liver website.

Royal Liver Group

At the time of its acquisition by the Royal London Group in 2011 The Royal Liver Group consisted of: * Royal Liver Assurance Limited (RLAL), an Incorporated Friendly Society, founded in Liverpool in 1850 for the mutual benefit and financial security of local families. RLAL also traded under the names Progress (in the UK) and Caledonian Life (in Ireland). RLAL had two subsidiary companies: * Royal Liver Asset Managers in the UK * Citadel Financial Advice Limited in Ireland. Royal Liver previously had a

financial advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

company called ''Park Row'', however this was wound up following an investigation by the FSA. Although owned by Royal Liver, Citadel is an independent company offering financial advice on a wide range of issues and financial services in Ireland.

Takeover

In 2007, Royal London approached Royal Liver about a possible combination of their businesses, but Royal Liver decided to remain as an independent entity. During the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, the FSA launched ''Project Chrysalis'', aimed at

mutual insurance A mutual insurance company is an insurance company owned entirely by its policyholders. It is a form of consumers' co-operative. Any profits earned by a mutual insurance company are either retained within the company or rebated to policyholders ...

companies. Companies were asked to hold more capital, and to either stop writing new policies, or justify that continuing selling new business would not put existing policyholders at a disadvantage. At the time, it was anticipated that several mutuals would merge due to lack of capital. Royal Liver were then approached again by Royal London in February 2010. Talks continued for some time, and the board of Royal Liver agreed the terms of a potential merger in April 2011. The delegates of Royal Liver voted in favour of the merger at the AGM on 12 May 2011.Royal Liver press release – Delegates vote YES
/ref> The transfer to Royal London was completed on 1 July 2011.

References

{{reflist Financial services companies established in 1911 Financial services companies disestablished in 2011 Defunct companies based in Liverpool Friendly societies of the United Kingdom