CII partners with Scope

The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has partnered with disability equality charity Scope to develop guidance on reporting and developing a diverse, inclusive working environment for people with disabilities.

Its report states those working in the insurance profession need to collect and report on their workforce’s disability data.

This is so that bosses can discover how many staff identify as disabled and how their experiences compare with their colleagues.

Scope found many employers collect this data, but few publish it publicly.

The charity found few use it to understand where disabled employees face barriers at work and use this evidence to inform plans to become more inclusive organisations.

Sian Fisher, chief executive of CII, said: “Hurdles which prevent people with disabilities from securing work, succeeding in work or even having access to things often taken for granted such as affordable insurance premiums for travel, need to be found and replaced with the right culture of support.

“There is no shame in facing up to any current shortfall in meeting the needs of employees, particularly those with disabilities, as long as this is followed up by action to do better.

“Businesses cannot survive if they ignore sections of society, whether it is in their employment practices or within their potential customer pool.

“We want our profession, a mature and innovative market of ideas, to be held up as a standard for others to follow.”

Johnny Timpson, disability champion of the Department for Work & Pensions, added: “I fully support and look forward to working with the CII and Scope on this collaborative initiative to make the insurance industry and profession a career destination of choice for people with disabilities, seen and/or unseen.

“What better way to understand the needs of disabled consumers and all customers at moments of vulnerability than by employing colleagues with a disability - be it seen or unseen?”