Stand out for the right reasons:
Chartered Insurers status
The insurance company sector is more challenging than ever. With increased regulation, new distribution channels and rising claims costs, the industry has had to raise its game.
Corporate ‘Chartered Insurers’ status is an opportunity for the best insurance companies to demonstrate their professional commitment to raising standards of knowledge, capability and ethical practice.
Chartered insurance companies must ensure staff members acquire and retain the necessary knowledge and skills to deliver the highest quality advice. They must also work in an ethical manner that places clients’ interests at the heart of the advice they give.
As a newly available title for insurance companies, the Chartered Insurers title will prove an exclusive and valuable distinction for those that attain it.
It also helps insurance companies attract and retain the best staff. Talented professionals want to work for ambitious, principled organisations, and corporate Chartered status is a clear indicator of the professional standing of a potential employer.
Genuine professionalism has never been so valued – or so necessary. The Chartered titles awarded by the CII are steeped in history, but they remain today’s gold standard of excellence and integrity.
How Chartered status works in practice
Successful insurance companies are eligible to describe themselves as ‘Chartered Insurers’.
On a practical level this typically involves:
- Using the term ‘Chartered Insurers’ on all business stationery, promotional materials and company signage
- Describing themselves in these terms in any communications they produce
- Displaying certification at each of their branches highlighting their Chartered status
- A listing on the CII’s publicly searchable online Chartered firm database. This includes details of the classes of business dealt with, together with contact details
To help insurance companies the CII has produced a simple guide, Corporate Chartered Status – Your guide to making it work hard for you, that offers practical advice on measures that companies can take to spread the word about their corporate Chartered status. This is supported by a range of practical tools to assist with communications to customers, the public and staff.
Applying for Chartered Insurers status
In summary, insurance companies need to satisfy three principal requirements to become Chartered. They must:
- meet the definition of an insurance company;
- satisfy the eligibility criteria required of Chartered Insurers both at application and on an ongoing basis. This is achieved through a combination of compulsory and discretionary criteria;
- pay an admission and annual renewal fee.
The eligibility criteria contains both obligatory criteria that must be met in full together with a range of discretionary criteria.
Each element of the discretionary criteria has an associated value in the form of points with a minimum of 50 points overall required. These criteria cover a range of practices and behaviours recognised as evidence of a commitment to professionalism.
Full details on all the criteria can be found in guidance notes within the section on applying for Chartered Insurers status – please follow the link below.
The cost of becoming Chartered
The fees for corporate Chartered status have been held at 2007 prices for the third year running.
They reflect the costs to the CII in administering, monitoring and enforcing the Chartered scheme.
Number of staff employed |
Annual fee |
Up to 10 |
£500 |
11-50 |
£1,000 |
51-250 |
£1,500 |
251+ |
£2,000 |
Fees are payable annually, upon acceptance and again on annual renewal.
Further information and to apply
Full details on the criteria for corporate Chartered status can be found in the guidance notes contained within the application section of this site.
The application process requires you to download an Excel based form, complete the worksheets within it to include information on your firm, and then upload the completed form to our website.
FAQs
We have produced a collection of FAQs addressing the most common queries received.
Links:
Apply for corporate Chartered status
Support for existing Chartered firms
Apply to renew your corporate Chartered status
Downloads:
Full guidance notes on applying
Corporate Chartered Insurers brochure
