Wesleyan named life insurer of the year
BIRMINGHAM-based Wesleyan Assurance Society was named Life Insurer of the Year for the second time in three years, at the prestigious British Insurance Awards.
Craig Errington, chief executive of Wesleyan, who accepted the award in front of industry peers at London’s Royal Albert Hall said: “It’s a fantastic achievement to win this award for a second time; I have to pay tribute to all my staff who work so hard to contribute to the success of the business and the delivery of a first-class service to our customers.”
The society beat off competition from NFU Mutual and Zurich, continuing its track record of outperforming bigger rivals. It recently announced a strong set of results for the full year 2009, including a market-leading 20.1% gross investment return on its main with profits fund and an 11% increase in new business sales.
Mr Errington added: “As a mutual organisation with no shareholders to consider, we can put our customers at the heart of everything we do and focus on their specific needs. In this way we aim to earn their trust and create a life-long relationship.
“2009 was a difficult year for the industry and we made a brave decision to continue to grow the business in line with our long-term strategy. However we did this in a measured way with a close eye on operational costs which was key to our success.”
Jackie Hendley, chair of the Birmingham Forward, said: “We would like to congratulate everyone at Wesleyan for their success with this award and for continuing to perform so positively through such turbulent business conditions – another example of the strong performance of Birmingham’s business and professional services community.”
Wesleyan provides specialist financial advice to hospital doctors, GPs, dentists, lawyers and teachers through its principal distribution brands Wesleyan Medical Sickness, Wesleyan for Lawyers and Wesleyan for Teachers.
