The insurer has confirmed that the units involved in the outsourcing move currently employ 500 staff.

Around 300 jobs are expected to go following the migration of Norwich Union's Lifetime high net worth wrap IT platform - including back office administration - to fellow insurer Scottish Friendly.

The decision to outsource Lifetime wrap comes after a strategic review of the product, which made a £23 million loss in the first half of 2008.

The transfer is expected to complete by early 2009 and will mean a "significantly improved service" for customers and advisers, says Norwich Union.

Scottish Friendly's platform is supplied by Australia's Bravura Solutions. The vendor says it has agreed a three year deal to provide secure hosted applications to support the re-launch of Norwich Union's wrap offering.

The Bravura deal comprises a licence fee as well as implementation, maintenance and hosting services with the vendor expected to generate several million dollars of revenue.

The UK insurer is also outsourcing the administration of its collective investments to International Financial Data Services (IFDS), leading to the loss of 200 jobs.

Norwich Union says the administration of collectives is currently spread across several platforms creating high operational overheads and difficult administrative challenges.

The phased transfer will be completed by the end of 2009, with Norwich Union claiming natural staff turnover and redeployment will help reduce the number of compulsory redundancies.

Norwich Union says this will significantly reduce operating costs, provide greater flexibility and make it simpler to quickly launch new products.

Mark Hodges, chief executive of Norwich Union Life, says the two outsourcing deals form part of the firm's overall strategy to simplify operations, reduce costs and focus on new opportunities for growth.

"We will be making significant investments in our IT infrastructure over the course of the next three to five years to recognise the changing needs of the mass affluent customer who wants to do business with us online. This will focus on delivering more online solutions and product features," he says.

Last month Norwich Union's parent company Aviva revealed plans to cut up to 1800 operations roles at the UK unit over the next two years as part of cost cutting measures designed to save £200 million by the end of 2008.

Aviva said it would shut down 13 Norwich Union centres in the UK by 2010. The move affects facilities in Dundee, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cheadle, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton, Basildon, Ipswich, Exeter and Worthing.