UK’s first full-service insurance provider tailored towards LGBT community launches
Emerald Life has today launched as the first full-service insurance provider aimed at the LGBT community.
Shunning one-size-fits-all service models, Emerald Life is launching insurance products for home, term life, wedding and pets, with travel to follow shortly, tailored towards the LGBT community's particular needs.
In particular, the home and wedding insurance packages will offer legal expenses cover for service provider discrimination on sexuality, while HIV+ will not be automatically excluded from medical cover in the travel or wedding insurance.
"It is hard for big insurers to be nimble and adapt to the subtle and specific things that matter to the LGBT community; they struggle to keep up with the times," said Steve Wardlaw, chairman of Emerald Life. "We have designed a solution from scratch where our community will know they've been thought about from day one."
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Heidi McCormack, chief executive of Emerald Life, added: "I am passionate about equality, I am passionate about people being able to be themselves and empowering that. With insurance, it is time to level the playing field."
Emerald Life has also discovered that, given the choice, over a third (39 per cent) of LGBT community members would change the language used in call centres so that it is not automatically assumed that their partner is of the opposite gender, while 34 per cent would like to see LGBT people featuring on advertising and promotion material.