Insurance and climate

A damning report into the transparency and investments of 23 home and motor insurance underwriting companies has revealed a stark industry-wide failure to tackle climate change, prompting calls for leaders in the sector to stop ‘dragging their heels’.

With total UK insurance premium investments totalling £143 billion in 2017 and generating 90% of profits, researchers at Ethical Consumer scrutinised company investment practices, commitment to carbon reduction and the extent of granular targets and reporting.

Each company in the study received Ethical Consumer’s ‘worst’ rating, largely failing across its environmental and carbon assessment criteria.

The criteria include: visible public policies that report on emissions from investments; a commitment to fossil-free investment and a future target in line with international agreements.

Companies were also assessed on the companies they provide insurance for.

Some companies did do better than others. Zurich, AXA, Aviva, RSA, Allianz and Covéa report on the climate impact of their investments and are aiming to reduce them.

Insurers to avoid

Esure’s brands, Esure and Sheila’s Wheels, received the worst overall rating for ‘opaque’ investments, among other factors. Esure was labelled a company to avoid. 

J.C. Flowers (UK General) had no climate reporting. NFU Mutual, esure, Direct Line (Churchill), EUI (Admiral) and Hastings just talked about the climate impact of their offices.