The Association of British Insurers has published two new guides aimed at helping insurance and pension firms better support customers and employees experiencing economic and domestic abuse.
Launched in Parliament, the guidance was developed with ABI members, Surviving Economic Abuse and the Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse.
The first guide focuses on customers experiencing economic abuse and sets out steps firms can take to identify potential cases, enable safe disclosure and reduce opportunities for perpetrators to use financial products as a means of control.
Economic abuse is a form of domestic abuse involving the control of a person's access to money, assets, services and other economic resources.
Within insurance and pensions, the ABI said examples could include redirecting insurance claim payments to a perpetrator or forcing someone to withdraw money from their pension.
According to Surviving Economic Abuse, one in six women in the UK has experienced economic abuse by a current or former partner.
The customer guidance brings together regulatory expectations and examples of industry practice, including how firms can consider the risk of economic abuse when designing customer journeys, communications and controls.
A second guide focuses on employees experiencing domestic abuse and provides examples of how firms can support affected colleagues and help them access specialist services.
It includes guidance on workplace training, referral pathways and support for managers responding to disclosures of domestic abuse.
The ABI cited Office for National Statistics figures showing 12.5 million adults have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16. Separate research estimates domestic abuse costs businesses in England £17 billion a year.
Hannah Gurga, director general of the ABI, said: "Feeling safe and in control of your own life is something everyone should be able to expect. Developed with specialist charities, these guides will help insurance and pension firms recognise the signs of economic and domestic abuse, respond with care and give customers and employees the support they need."
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby added: "Economic abuse can devastate lives. Abusers weaponise anything they can, including insurance, to maintain control over victims - trapping victims in policies they want to leave or cancelling the policies they depend on. That’s why it’s so important that as part of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy the ABI has developed this new guidance to ensure victim-survivors get the protection they deserve."
Sam Smethers, CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, said: "Insurance products are there to protect us, but in the hands of a perpetrator they are used to cause real harm and in some cases this can be life-threatening. Thanks to our vital work with the insurance industry and the ABI's leadership we are now beginning to see change, but there is still much more to do.
"We urge firms to go beyond regulatory requirements by embedding good practice, strengthening staff training and importantly, designing products and services that close down opportunities for perpetrators to abuse instead of leaving all the power in the abuser's hands. At Surviving Economic Abuse, we’re ready to work with the insurance industry, providing training and expertise to help firms embed these vital changes. Together, we can save lives and stop economic abuse forever."
