‘Insuring’ our future: How insurance companies are tackling climate change

The insurance industry has a critical role to play in enabling the net zero transition — and some of the UK’s largest insurers are rising to the challenge. Here, leaders from the heart of the industry share their latest sustainability initiatives.  

As part of the ITN Business news-style programme, ‘Securing Futures,’ jointly produced with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), we met with industry leaders to explore some forward-thinking initiatives that are underway to tackle the climate crisis. 

Colm Holmes, CEO of Allianz, believes businesses play a vital role in reaching net zero, and through embracing several green initiatives — including the use of recycled car parts for repairs — Allianz is taking a leadership role within the sector. 

 “There’s a huge amount that we’re doing within the market to assist others — and to push our own businesses, to ensure that we can reach net zero by 2030,” Colm explains. “We’re working with the Allianz Net Zero Accelerator, where we work with broker partners to help them reach carbon neutrality through their working environment.  

“The onus is on all of us to do what we can individually, collectively, and as corporate organisations because we represent the people in our own communities. It’s important that we take a leadership role in that.” 

Approved by Allianz

‘My Green Parts’ 

Allianz and recycling and salvage company Synetic have launched a digital platform called ‘My Green Parts’. This is a place where body shops can find recycled parts that match insurance requirements and are guaranteed for life. It’s the first to-market solution for the car repair and insurance sectors.

Allianz’ partner, Steer Automotive Group, has nearly 60 workshops across the country. They put 90,000 damaged vehicles a year back on the road using ‘green’ parts sourced through Synetic wherever possible.

And their work stretches beyond car parts. As Graham Gibson, Allianz’s Chief Claims Officer explains, they are re-evaluating the whole repair process. 

“When we talk about green repairs, we’re not just looking at the repair, we’re looking at the whole end-to-end process. Traditionally repairers would use diesel vehicles to recover vehicles and bring them to the garage. Now we’re looking at electric vehicles to do that recovery. We’re looking at things like paint and how we recycle both what comes out the repairer and what goes into our salvage yards.” 

Catherine Dixon, Chief Underwriting Officer at Allianz reveals another new aspect of their sustainability efforts is providing direct advice to customers to help them decarbonise. 

“We’re starting to give what we are calling ‘carbon management advice’ alongside more traditional risk management advice. Our team of surveyors visit customers around the country to help them with things like intruder alarms, fire suppression systems, and very traditional insurance type risk management measures. We’re also helping them understand how they can start on their path to net zero within their own businesses.” 

Working alongside insurance companies like Allianz, is Copart, a global leader in vehicle remarketing and recycling. Every year, Copart UK processes around half a million insurance write-offs at 22 sites across the country, and every single one is either repaired, reused, or recycled. 

Copart CEO for UK and Ireland, Jane Pocock, explains their important work in ensuring that the parts of a vehicle that are repairable, get to the right repairers around the world. And the rest is recycled and reused in the best possible way. 

Expert repairers buy the parts they want via Copart’s patented live auction platform. These daily online auctions — up to 30 a week — attract an audience of 9 million people a year around the world. 

“We’ve got a huge range of buyers. We’ve got buyers who will be sole traders, purchasing and repairing small number of vehicles, to body shops repairing to project, hobby repairers, right up to large scale, green parts suppliers and vehicle repairers.” 

“We’ve created this huge recycling company, and that’s something we’re incredibly proud of.” 

Approved by Copart

Watch the news-style programme ‘Securing Futures’ for more interviews with leaders within the insurance world. 

Does your business have a story to share on the role the insurance sector can play a part in tackling climate change? If so, please contact: sharewhatyoustandfor@itn.co.uk