ANOTHER 1,800 insurance jobs will be lost in Britain over the next two years, it emerged yesterday after United Friendly Group and Refuge Group announced plans for a £1.46 billion sterling merger. The alliance is the latest example of consolidation within the industry and comes three months after insurance giants Sun Alliance and Royal Insurance unveiled their proposals for a £5.4 billion merger.

The merger will create a new company called United Assurance, 53 per cent owned by United Friendly shareholders, which would be fourth largest provider of life premiums in Britain. The companies said they expected that a quarter of their 7,000 strong workforce would be cut and said they could not rule out compulsory redundancies.