Specialist insurer’s parent company rebrands

Ecclesiastical Insurance’s parent company, Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, has overhauled its brand identity and changed its name to Benefact Group.

Owned by registered charity Benefact Trust, Benefact Group was established to protect parish churches from fire and has grown to become an international group with three divisions: insurance, investments, and broker and advisory in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia. It includes more than 30 specialist financial businesses, including Ecclesiastical Insurance, EdenTree Investment Management, SEIB, Lycetts, and Lloyd & White brokers.

As a charity-owned group, Benefact Group gives all its available profits to good causes and has become the fourth-largest corporate donor to charity in the UK. Its new name was derived from Latin and means “to do well by supporting a person or good cause,” better reflecting its diversity, breadth, and purpose.

Despite the new name and brand identity, Ecclesiastical Insurance and the group’s other trading brands will continue to operate under their names and remain part of the group.

Commenting on the changes, Benefact Group CEO Mark Hews said: “As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do. I’m very proud of our new name, which reflects our unique purpose [and] the breadth of what we offer our valued trading partners and marks an ambitious new chapter for the group and our family of specialist businesses.” 

Richard Coleman, managing director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, offered assurances that the brand will continue to trade as a specialist expert in its markets and a trusted partner to brokers.

“We’re proud of our reputation as one of the most trusted, ethical, and high-quality insurers in our markets and of the positive impact we continue to make on society by giving back all of our available profits to churches, charities, and other good causes. This mission gives us all real continuity of purpose and a continued focus on growing our business with our partners, so we can deliver more to those good causes,” he said.

Benefact Group plans to give £250 million to good causes by 2025, with its trading brands operating to the same high ethical standards.