Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc announces results for the half year ended 30 June 2024

• Gross Written Premiums (GWP)** continued to grow, rising to £301.1m (H1 2023: £288.2m). This was driven by new business wins and supported by strong retention and customer loyalty. In the UK and Ireland, GWP rose by 11.3% from £190.9m to £212.5m.
• For general insurance, we reported a strong underwriting profit** of £20.4m (H1 2023: £0.3m). This result benefited from a more stable claims environment thanks to fewer major events compared to H1 2023.
• Overall profit before tax of £41.4m (H1 2023: £10.2m), achieved through a substantial insurance service result of £36.8m (H1 2023: £23.0m) and boosted by an investment result of £34.6m (H1 2023: £14.7m), driven by fair value movements in our equities portfolio.
• Our capital position remains strong with Moody’s and AM Best ratings remaining Stable. This gives confidence we can deliver for our customers, clients and partners whilst maintaining our capital strength.

• Ecclesiastical UK continued its growth into new sectors with the launch of its new Office Professions product in July 2024, for office-based businesses providing professional services, and widened its leisure appetite following a successful launch in 2023.
• Our insurance businesses continue to be recognised for their award-winning service with prestigious awards including:
  • Ecclesiastical UK home insurance was placed top of the Fairer Finance table in its Spring ratings and first for both customer trust and customer happiness.
  • Ecclesiastical UK once again received the Gracechurch Service Quality Marque, reflecting its outstanding service quality for claims handling.
  • Ecclesiastical Ireland received the Investors in Diversity Bronze Award.
  • Ecclesiastical Canada was again named one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for 2024, achieving the title for the sixth consecutive year. The business also received the Excellence in Philanthropy & Community Service and P&C Insurer of the Year awards at Insurance Business Canada’s Excellence Awards 2023.
• As part of our mission to contribute to the greater good of society, we announced a grant of £8m to our charitable owner Benefact Trust in respect of our first half performance. This brings the total given to good causes in the past decade to £231m – and keeps us on course to deliver our ambition to give £250m to good causes by the end of 2025.
• We continued to invest in our teams, promoting and recruiting talent across all our territories, as part of our drive to be a world-class employer.

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ecclesiastical, said:

“We are clearly delighted by these results and would like to thank all our supporters for their help in growing our business so that we can give even more to good causes, transforming lives and communities in this country and abroad. The first half of 2024 saw continued positive trading momentum in the UK with excellent growth in premiums, both in our existing specialisms and in our new Leisure sector, which launched last year and has driven 20% of our open market new business.

“In the UK we continued our expansion into adjacent sectors with the launch of our Office Professions product in July 2024, targeted at all clerical-based office risks, such as accountants, architects, estate agents, lawyers, insurance brokers, call centres, graphic designers, and consultants. Alongside this we expanded our distribution capabilities with the introduction of our digital portal Schemes+ to help brokers manage their schemes more effectively.

“For general insurance, we reported a strong underwriting profit of £20.4m, helped by a more stable claims environment and our continued focus on protecting our prestigious portfolio of heritage properties, both in the UK and abroad. As a specialist insurer, we are trusted to safeguard some of the nation’s most beloved buildings, and we take that responsibility very seriously, helping our customers to manage their risks effectively through our best-in-class risk management advice and guidance. And when the time comes for a customer to make a claim, our award-winning claims team is there to help. Our commitment to excellent customer service was recognised with multiple award wins in the first half of the year, including being awarded Gracechurch’s Service Quality Marque for the third year running, and Fairer Finance’s Home Insurance First Place Gold Ribbon for the 19th consecutive time.

“As a business with a purpose to contribute to the greater good of society, we donated £8m earlier this year to charity in respect of 2023 performance and I’m delighted that we’ve agreed to donate a further £8m, which will fund grants to those most in need in society. Thanks to all our supporters, we are now the third biggest corporate donor to charity in the UK*** and this brings our total giving since 2014 to £231m and keeps us on course to meet our ambition to give £250m to good causes by the end of 2025.

“I’d like to thank all our colleagues, brokers, customers, and partners for their continued support for our unique business. Every one of them is helping us give even more to good causes and making a real difference in the world.”

* The ‘Group’ refers to Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc together with its subsidiaries. The ‘Benefact Group’ and ‘wider group’ refers to Benefact Group plc, the immediate parent company of Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc, together with its subsidiaries. The ‘Benefact Trust’ and ‘the Trust’ refers to Benefact Trust Limited, the ultimate parent undertaking of Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc.

** The Group uses Alternative Performance Measures (APMs) to help explain performance. More information on APMs is included in note 17.

*** Directory of Social Change’s The Guide to UK Company Giving 2023/24.