Insurance Overview
Insurance companies supply services to a wide variety of customers, from everyday consumers to large corporations.
But do they have guidelines or policies as to who they will and won't insure? Do green and ethical considerations feature in insurance companies' risk assessments?
Might they, for example, offer coverage to munitions factories or companies with significant operations in countries with oppressive regimes? Or might they insure others with poor labour or environmental records?
Green and ethical insurance products
Green and ethical insurance products
For home, motor, travel, life and health insurance, there is a small but growing number of green and ethical insurance products available. A selection is below:
- Co-operative Insurance
Insurance type: home, motor, life and health
This provider has a comprehensive ethical engagement policy in place that governs all its insurance decisions. The Co-op's 'ecoinsurance' scheme offers cash incentives as well as environmental pledges. It offsets the equivalent of 20 per cent of the CO2 from every vehicle insured and also offers premium discounts for greener cars. - Climate Sure
Insurance type: travel
Climate Sure calculates the CO2 produced by flying overseas and pays for it to be 'offset' by funding sustainable energy projects. - Green Insurance Company
Insurance type: motor
This provider aims to offset your car's carbon emissions and offers discounts on greener cars/lower mileage. - Naturesave
Insurance types: home, travel, personal accident and illness
This company puts 10% of its personal insurance premiums in a fund (Naturesave Trust) to benefit environmental and conservation projects. It also offers a free environmental performance review for commercial clients and aims to use suppliers that support sustainable business practices. - Ansvar Insurance Co Ltd
Insurance types: home, motor, travel
Insurance is sold to individuals and organisations with a not-for-profit remit.
Your next steps
What do you do now? Check out our guide Next Steps - Insurance for suggestions on how to give your insurance policies a green and ethical makeover as well as the questions you should be asking your current or prospective insurance provider.
Insurance Search
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Insurance Provider
NatWest
Green/Ethical Products
- Carbon offset payments
- Basic Bank Account
- Foundation Account (business account available 'regardless' of credit standing)
Ethical Lending or Insurance
While the parent company, the RBS Group, does not have a broad, group-wide ethical lending policy it does have the following:
- Global lending and project finance for corporate customers (i.e. the Equator Principles are applied in project finance decisions)
- Ethical Code for Suppliers in line with the UN Global Compact principles (human rights)
The Group’s Sustainability Team manages all Corporate Responsibilities at executive level, including assessments of social and environmental impacts of the lending policy.
Responsible Lending
1. Credit Lending
NatWest currently offers LTV (loan-to-value) mortgage rates up to 90%. This compares favourably with the FSA’s Turner Review suggestion of a maximum LTV of 90%, i.e. the borrower should have at least a 10% deposit.
The LTI (loan-to-income) rate is not specified. The bank states that it uses an affordability assessment in making loan decisions but information on the factors considered or limits imposed are not made publicly available.
The bank uses information from credit reference agencies as well as behavioural and credit scoring techniques to assess secured and unsecured credit applications.
The bank does not have a policy to avoid making unsolicited increases to customers’ credit limits.
2. Debt Warning
The bank issues a generic warning to mortgage customers: ‘Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.’
For credit card customers it states: ‘All introductory offers are conditional on you paying on time and staying within your credit limit.’
Though it does not refer customers directly to the FSA’s Debt Test, the RBS MoneySense website features a debt test that 'helps you find out whether you have - or are likely to have - problems with borrowing'.
3. Debt Management and Advice
With regard to mortgage customers experiencing difficulty making their repayments the bank says it will:
- Contact the customer ‘as soon as possible’ to discuss their problem
- Talk to debt advice agencies (e.g. Citizens Advice) and will act on the customers behalf if requested
- Give customers ‘reasonable time’ to pay back the debt
- Look at arranging a new payment plan with mortgage customers
- Consider changing the way the customer makes their payments or the date they are made
- Consider allowing the customer to pay back their mortgage over a longer period of time, thus reducing monthly payments
- Look at changing the type of mortgage
The bank outlines the possible steps involved if they move to repossess the customer’s home.
No similar assistance was found for customers with difficulties related to unsecured credit.
Evidence indicates NatWest offers payment holidays to offset flexible mortgage customers, however there is no policy statement, timeframe or circumstances outlined. Payment holidays are not offered on personal loans.
The bank states that it offers advice on re-housing for customers and makes customers aware of advice agencies such as Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureau. However, it is unclear whether this advice extends beyond the provision of the organisations contact details to customers facing repossession.
Financial Exclusion
NatWest provides a basic bank account to low-income customers. It also offers special accounts to Polish immigrants.
In terms of access provisions, NatWest installed hundreds of ATMs in deprived and rural areas in the UK. The bank also provides services via mobile banks in some remote areas.
A new product, the Foundation account, was developed for customers without a strong credit history who intend to open small businesses.
Environment
According to its Corporate Responsibility report the RBS Group obtained all its UK and Ireland contracted electricity from renewable sources in 2007 and has made a significant investment in improving its energy efficiency as well as showing an ongoing commitment to the improvement of its environment performance specifically where it concerns energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
However, similar commitments regarding waste management were not found.
Carbon Neutral
The Group’s stated goal is to reduce carbon emissions per employee in the UK and Ireland by 20% from 2006 levels by 2011. No pledge was found to become fully carbon neutral.
Equal Opportunities
The Group’s diversity policy addresses the key areas of gender, race, disability and sexuality.
Women on the Board
5.88% of parent company, RBS's, board members are women (2007).
Voluntary Standards & Initiatives
The parent company is a signatory/member of:
Charitable Giving
The parent company, RBS donated 0.38% of its pre-tax profits in 2007.
NatWest
- Current Accounts
- Savings
- Investments
- Credit Cards
- Loans
- Mortgages
- Insurance (Home, Motor, Travel, Life)
- Students Contents Insurance
- Students Current Account
