BIBA and UNLOCK petition for ex-offenders

by Gill Montia

Story link: BIBA and UNLOCK petition for ex-offenders

The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) and UNLOCK (The National Association of Ex-Offenders) have joined forces to encourage the insurance industry to take a more flexible approach to insuring people who have been convicted of a criminal offence.

Each year the UK prison population and the number of convicted offenders increase: there are currently 7.3 million people listed on the UK Government Offender Index and this number is equal to one fifth of the country’s working population.

UK prisons currently hold around 90,000 people, whilst over 130,000 law breakers receive community sentences every year.

Those involved in the rehabilitation and resettlement of ex-offenders are well aware of the many barriers that make it difficult to re-integrate into society and as the number of people with convictions grows, more individuals and families are finding it difficult to obtain insurance.

BIBA and UNLOCK believe that the insurance industry is penalising all former offenders with a blanket increase in risk, even where a person’s past does not represent a significantly increased risk.

Bureau Insurance Services, a BIBA member, has already introduced a scheme called Fairplay.

It aims to assist ex-offenders and considers applications for Household Insurance by looking at a person’s current lifestyle and not just the crime committed in the past.

BIBA’s Chief Executive, Eric Galbraith, hopes that “society as a whole will benefit from insurers showing greater flexibility when assessing the risks posed by ex-offenders”