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Resolution Life has rejected a £4.5 billion cash takeover offer from life insurer Pearl, opting to continue with the all-share merger deal with Friends Provident.

The Pearl offer was 11p less than the price Resolution has been trading at and the Independent reports that Pearl intended to sell Resolution’s Scottish Provident and Isle of Man life insurance arms to Royal London.

However, it appears Pearl is not discouraged, saying the offer is only the start of talks with Resolution.

"The issue is value and the perception of value. It is shareholders who will decide that. Now is the time for further discussion," the company said in a statement.

Standard Life had been expected to make a joint bid with Pearl as it is interested in acquiring Scottish Provident.

Yet another insurer has also requested access to the Resolution dataroom, possibly Swiss Re or AXA.

The Friends/Resolution merger is not due to become final until November 29th, following extraordinary general meetings on November 5th where shareholders will vote on the deal.

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Private medical insurance companies will now have to provide detailed explanations of their cancer cover after the Association of British Insurers (ABI) introduced new guidelines.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s director of general insurance and health, explained that "for the first time, companies will be required to provide a more detailed explanation of their cancer cover".

"This is because cancer is a complex disease that does not always fit into the standard categories of ‘acute’ or ‘chronic’ illnesses. We hope that the new definitions will improve people’s understanding of private medical insurance and encourage more people to take it out," he added.

"The ABI has been working with member companies, and organisations such as Cancerbackup, to create clearer definitions of medical terms.

Joanne Rule, chief executive of the charity Cancerbackup, has been working with the ABI on the new guidelines and welcomed the announcement.

"Common definitions will bring much needed clarity to people purchasing private medical insurance and allow them to make better informed decisions about the kind of cover they want, and the treatments which would be covered if they were diagnosed with cancer," she said.