British insurers Aviva, Direct Line, RSA and Lloyds of London have said they will stop paying dividends for 2019 given uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was welcomed by the Central Bank of England and Northern Ireland, who had earlier warned that the epidemic was likely to affect the businesses and customers of those companies as well as the global economy.

“This is a difficult decision, not least in terms of the initial impact it will have on shareholders”, said RSA Chairman, Martin Scicluna. “No company exists in a vacuum, and at this time we consider that the RSA’s best interest in the long term is to limit the payment of dividends in order to increase our ability to support our customers”, added he.

Regulators, including EIOPA and the UK Prudential Regulatory Authority, have previously demanded a restriction on the payment of dividends by shareholders’ insurers and the payment of bonuses to senior staff.

“When insurers consider continuing or not to pay dividends, their advice should pay great attention to the need to protect policyholders and maintain safety and reliability”, says a statement from the Central Bank of England and Northern Ireland.

Aviva also said it would review all of the company’s material costs as part of plans to prevent the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The insurer said it remained “well-capitalized and with strong liquidity”.

Britain’s largest auto insurer, Direct Line, has said it will not make any changes to its staff until at least the fall. Separately, Hiscox, which takes on a number of risks, including fine arts, retro cars, hijacking, and ransom, said it would also not offer an interim dividend payment for 2020 or buy back shares this year.