Ecclesiastical Insurance

A specialist UK insurer for churches, charities, heritage buildings and schools, owned by a charity so its profits are given away.

About Ecclesiastical Insurance

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office is a specialist UK insurer. It was founded in 1887 as the Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office, after a series of fires left parishes without churches or the means to rebuild. Today it insures church, charity, heritage and education buildings, and writes fine art cover and cover for high net worth customers. It is part of Benefact Group. It added burglary and personal accident cover in 1894, launched its first specialist schools policy in 1978, and its UK operations gained Chartered Insurer status in 2013.

Ecclesiastical's mission is closely tied to who owns it. Benefact Group is owned by the Benefact Trust, a registered charity formerly called Allchurches Trust, so profits go to charitable causes. UK managing director Richard Coleman has said "We generate all our profits to give them away" and that the charitable purpose "brings out the best in us." A local business article quoted Group Chief Executive Mark Hews saying "charitable giving is at the heart of what we do."

Its head office is Benefact House, Pioneer Avenue, Gloucester, in purpose-built offices at Brockworth, and it also has a London office, which moved to Monument Place in 2015. Benefact Group has over 30 specialist businesses, including EdenTree Investment Management and brokers such as Lycetts and SEIB, which keep their own trading names. The Trust, not Ecclesiastical, decides which causes receive donations. A local newspaper ranking put Benefact among Gloucestershire's top employers, though the staff figure it gave (about 600) refers to that article's count and is dated.

People at Ecclesiastical describe a culture where serving customers and brokers well is the main focus, because that is what funds the giving. Insurance Times reports that the company employs proportionally many risk managers, who help customers reduce risk and help underwriters understand the buildings they cover. It also describes long-serving experts who know how heritage buildings are made and valued, and one example where it sent an archaeologist to a burned heritage building to save surviving artefacts.

Job listings on the Benefact Group careers site include account managers, claims handlers, senior claims handlers and underwriters, which shows the main functions that make up the insurer. The company also runs smart sensors (Smart Properties) that warn owners of moisture or temperature risks, so technology and data roles sit alongside traditional insurance roles.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Cover for places of worship and faith organisations.', 'title': 'Church and faith insurance'}
• {'desc': 'Buildings, collections and charity activities.', 'title': 'Heritage and charity insurance'}
• {'desc': 'Specialist cover for schools, first launched in 1978.', 'title': 'Education insurance'}

Key facts

• Founded 1887 to protect churches from fire
• Owned by the Benefact Trust, a registered charity
• Head office Gloucester; London office at Monument Place
• Roles listed on careers site include underwriters, account managers and claims handlers

Website: www.ecclesiastical.com