View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2008/11/12/95451.htm
The insurance industry is failing reformed offenders who are seeking entry to basic financial security, according to Chris Bath of the offender charity UNLOCK. Writing in the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) publication Thinkpiece, he argued that blanket policies, confusing laws and an overall lack of knowledge among both the consumers and industry contribute to a system that blocks people trying to go ‘straight’ from getting the very thing they need most to reintegrate into society: insurance.
Bath put forward what he believes are workable solutions that could help both industry and the consumer and claims that by opening access to insurance to a market historically assumed as being too risky, insurers could make a fundamental impact on reducing crime while retaining a commercial approach.
He stated: “Developing more progressive, data-driven risk-pricing models could offer a largely untapped commercial opportunity, while simultaneously contributing to justice and crime reduction.”
David Thomson, Director of Policy & Public Affairs at the CII adds: “Chris’s paper highlights one of the major issues faced by reformed offenders and throws down a challenge to both the government and the industry. If insurers are able to develop appropriate risk models they could make a fundamental impact on reducing crime within a realistic commercial market.”
The article can be found at: www.cii.co.uk/thinkpiece
Source: Chartered Insurance Institute