Aviva to close all 26 Irish branches by June 2012

MAJOR insurer Aviva is to close all of its Irish branches by June next year — a move which will cost over 1,200 jobs and leave just a handful of officials, one executive and a single call centre here.

Last month Aviva revealed it was shedding between 950 and 1,250 jobs.

The closure decision emerged the same day as Aviva appointed Sean Egan as its new Irish operations chief executive.

According to the company’s leaked Irish plan, Aviva’s HR, IT and finance departments will be served by a “UK hub”. In all, 126 sales and service positions face the axe as the company increases its web self-service; the claims department will see 107 jobs go; and the Irish team of business development managers will be cut in half, from 55 to 26.

By June 2012, Aviva Ireland and its 26 branches will be shut down completely. However, a call centre for the British company will be opened in Galway.

According to documents seen by RTÉ, Aviva forecasts 91% of sales and 61% of its service could take place online.

In further negative jobs news, the HSE has confirmed it will need to cut 520 jobs in HSE West in the next five weeks if it is to try to break even this year.