In November 2020, Generali sent out a letter to their customers whose annuity policies they are proposing to transfer to Omnilife.

The questions and answers below aim to cover further details of the proposed Transfer:

1.What is being proposed?

Generali is proposing to transfer the annuity policies issued by their UK branch to Omnilife.  The UK branch of Generali is a representative office of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., which is authorised and regulated in Italy by IVASS (the Italian Institute for the Supervision of Insurance).

As part of this process:

• the boards of directors of both Generali and Omnilife have reviewed and approved the proposals;
• the companies have consulted closely with Generali’s regulator IVASS as well as Omnilife’s regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA);
• your policy terms and conditions remain unchanged; and
• your annuity payments will continue in the same manner as before.

2. Who is Omnilife?

Omnilife is a UK based life insurance company that is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. It is part of the Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated, one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies. You can rest assured that your policy will be in safe hands.

3. Why is a Transfer being proposed?

The reason for the Transfer is to simplify Generali’s business and to support the ongoing administration of these policies following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

4. When will the Transfer happen?

Before the Transfer can go ahead, it must be approved by IVASS, in consultation with the PRA’, to ensure the adequate protection of policyholders. We are currently waiting for the Transfer to be approved by IVASS and don’t have an exact date yet. We will update this page when the Transfer has been approved by IVASS and confirm the effective date of the Transfer.

5. What will happen after the Transfer has been approved by IVASS?

After approval by IVASS, Omnilife will write to the you within ten days of the Transfer approval and confirm the effective date of the Transfer.

6. How will the Transfer affect me?

As part of the Transfer, all of Generali’s rights and obligations under your policy will transfer without alteration to Omnilife on the effective date of the Transfer. This means that all your rights and obligations under your policy remain unchanged and transfer to Omnilife from that date.

Omnilife will become responsible for providing your policy benefits from the effective date of the Transfer. However, in order to ensure a smooth transition, Equiniti (EQ), the third-party provider which currently administers your policies on behalf of Generali, will continue to carry out the administration services for the transferred policies, on behalf of Omnilife

7. Who should I contact if I have any queries about my policy?

Equiniti (EQ) will continue to administer your policies on Omnilife’s behalf meaning that you will experience no change in the way your policies are managed. Equiniti’s contact details are as follows:

Email: Generali@equiniti.com

Post: Equiniti
Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. 
Sutherland House 
Russell Way 
Crawley 
West Sussex 
RH10 1UH 

Telephone: 0800 917 2027 – If calling from U.K. (+44 (0)121 415 7584 – If calling from outside U.K.)

Phone lines will be open Monday to Friday (excluding UK public holidays) from 9am to 5pm.

8. Will my annuity payments be affected?

The terms and conditions of your annuity policies will not change as a result of the proposed Transfer. All annuity payments and associated benefits will continue to be honoured as before; including the amount and frequency of the payments due, along with any additional benefits requested when the annuity was originally taken out.

The only change that may be noticed, is the change to the payment reference.

9. Is the policy safe/will I lose any benefits?

The terms and conditions of your policy will not change as a result of the Transfer. You can rest assured that your policy will be in safe hands.

10. Will my policy number change?

No, your policy number will stay the same and will be shown in your policy documents and in the letter recently sent out by Generali.

11. Do I need to do anything?

No, you don’t need to take any action. We would ask though that you read the letter you receive from Generali to make sure that you understand what is being proposed and if you have any questions, please contact EQ using the details given in question 7.

If anyone else has an interest in your policy, for example, if there are joint or contingent beneficiaries (e.g. a spouse or dependent) for an annuity, or if your policy has been assigned, you may wish to share this letter with them.

12. Does my policy have to Transfer?

Yes, if the Transfer is approved by IVASS, then all policies in scope of the transfer will Transfer to Omnilife. You can rest assured that you will be in safe hands.

13. Can I surrender/transfer my policy?

Your terms and conditions will remain the same.

If your annuity policy is already in payment, then it cannot be transferred.

However, if your policy is a deferred annuity, you can’t surrender your policy, but you can:

• Transfer it to another pension scheme at or prior to the vesting date
• Take trivial commutation at vesting if this applies to you (must be above 55 years old and have a relatively small pension to exchange your regular pension payments for a one-off cash lump sum).
• Take a reduced annuity and tax-free cash at the vesting date

The vesting date is the date from which the annuity holder starts receiving the policy benefits of a regular stream of income.

14. What will happen to my policy after the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union?

Your policy terms and conditions will remain unchanged and your annuity payments will continue in the same manner as before. Omnilife is a UK based life insurance company that is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. It is part of the Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated, one of the largest global life and health reinsurance companies.  You can rest assured that your policy will be in safe hands.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact EQ using the details are above.