However, LV= itself is remaining tight-lipped about the name of a potential partner or the nature of any deal, if it goes ahead.

Sky News reported at the weekend that LV= may merge or be taken over by rival Royal London.

In a statement LV= said: “The Board of Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Limited (LV=) notes the recent press speculation and confirms that as part of a previously announced Strategic Review it has been and remains in discussions with a number of parties regarding a potential transaction.

“Discussions are on-going and there can be no certainty that the discussions will result in any transaction being agreed or with whom.”

The mutual, which was also subject to speculation in June, said that it was continuing to trade well despite the impact of Covid-19.

The firm said a further announcement on any deal would be made “if and when appropriate.” No further announcements are planned today.

Royal London has declined to comment on a potential tie-up.

LV= recently sold off its its general insurance business and has been looking at a number of options for the firm’s future.

In January LV= appointed former Zurich senior executive Mark Hartigan as chief executive on an initial 12 month contract. Mark Hartigan was part of the senior leadership team at Zurich Insurance Group between 2009 and 2019.

At the beginning of 2020 LV= became a company limited by guarantee, ending its friendly society status.

LV= has approximately 1.25m member customers who own ‘a member-qualifying product’ - this includes current and historic products, apart from equity release products and customers who have general insurance products. Overall the company has 5.5m customers and 3,500 employees. 

• Separately, Royal London announced today it was entering the equity release market in a partnership with Responsible Life.