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
Yorkshire Building Society
Green/Ethical Products
- Flexible Home Energy Efficiency Additional Loan (restricted to Yorkshire BS’s mortgage customers only)
Ethical Lending or Insurance
No details of an ethical lending policy was found. However, as this is a mutual building society it is less likely to lend or be exposed to typically ‘unethical’ commercial interests.
Responsible Lending
1. Credit Lending
Yorkshire Building Society offers a LTV (loan-to-value) up to 85% of the purchase price or valuation for the property. 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.
Figures for its LTI (loan-to-income) rates were not found. In this instance the Turner reviews a rate of 3.5 times gross annual income for single applicants.
The building society may use an automated system, such as credit scoring, to assist in its lending decisions. It does not specify whether it runs checks through credit reference agencies either.
2. Debt Warning
The building society issues the following warnings to its customers:
- ‘Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage or any other debt secured on it.’
- ‘Consolidating your debt may increase the amount you pay back overall and extend the repayment period for your debts.’
No evidence was found that the building society uses or recommends the FSA Debt Test or an equivalent. This facility is designed to help customers find out whether they have, or are likely to have, problems with borrowing.
3. Debt Management and Advice
In outlining its policies with regard to customers in financial difficulty, the building society says it will:
- Contact customers ‘as soon as possible’ to discuss their situation
- Look at arranging a new payment plan
- Consider changing the way payments are made, or the date they are made
- Allow customers to pay their mortgage over a longer period of time, thus reducing monthly payments
- Change the type of mortgage the customer has
- Arrange for debt counsellor visit (the cost may be charged to the mortgage account)
- Give customers ‘reasonable time’ to pay back the debt
- Talk to an agency like Citizens Advice Bureau to arrange a payment plan, if requested
It further outlines the steps involved in the repossession process.
Payment holidays are offered to customers who have previously overpaid their mortgage up to the amount they have overpaid only.
No information was found with regard to provisions for customers with unsecured loans experiencing financial difficulty.
No evidence was found that the building society offers re-housing advice or liaises with organisations such as Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureau to work out re-housing arrangements with mortgage customers facing repossession.
Financial Exclusion
The society does not offer any products or services to the financially excluded, nor does it appear to work in partnership with credit unions or offer preferential lending within deprived communities based on the data in the public arena. As a mutual building society funding microfinance projects is beyond its business remit.
The society does offer branch accessibility to customers with mobility difficulties; blind and partially sighted customers; and deaf, hearing impaired and speech impaired customers. Most branches include:
- Staff who are informed about disability issues
- Level access or wheelchair ramps or assistance buttons at entrance
- Power assisted entrance doors
- Hearing aid induction loops
- Sign language interpreters by appointment
- The ability to request account correspondence and marketing literature in alternative formats
Environment
The society expresses a commitment to improve its performance in the key areas of energy efficiency and waste management.
Carbon Neutral
The society’s business operations went carbon neutral in 2007.
Equal Opportunities
The society’s equal opportunities policy addresses the key issues of gender, race, disability and sexuality.
Women on the Board
18.2% of the society's board are women according to 2007 figures.
Voluntary Standards & Initiatives
None
Charitable Giving
The society donated 0.62% of its pre-tax profits in 2007.
Yorkshire Building Society
- Savings
- Loans
- Credit Cards
- Mortgages
- Insurance (Motor, Home, Life, Mortgage Protection)
Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire House
Yorkshire Drive
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD5 8LJ
