Trust is defined as follows: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc. of a person or thing; confidence: the confident expectation of something; hope; the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed. As per the Chartered Insurance Insitute document on public trust in insurance, “Firms are grappling with competence levels – understanding needs and expectations of customers, changes in technology, demand for increased loyalty at better prices". Insurance providers may face special challenges in evidencing their competence: for example when consumers do not have personal experience of trying to claim, where comparison websites mean decisions are largely based on price alone, or where consumers do not diligently read through paperwork, terms and conditions. Questions about trust should specify who or what is the target of trust, and what he, she or it is trusted

Laurie Edmans has been in insurance for 50 years and is a Fellow of the CII: “I was taught that ‘the basis of insurance is utmost good faith’. No amount of compliance can replace that. People’s scepticism about insurance is as old as insurance – their impressions are forged by exceptions, not the rule. People who need cover, but don’t take it, lose out – often tragically – so does the industry. We must deserve trust.”

We believe that knowledge can reprogram the mind into a more ethical behavior. Learning in depth about our industry will allow you to understand it better and understand the consequences of shaking public trust in insurance. Learning will also engage insurance professionals into an exciting relationship with insurance to an extent where the insurance professional will feel compelled to protect its importance and its transparency. No one would want to see something he or she loves turn into an untrustworthy industry. Learning will ignite passion and a labor of love for the industry.

Continuous learning is a quest we are so committed to that it is becoming our DNA. The more capable and knowledgeable we become, the more confident we are and the more transparently we shall engage with our prospects and customers.