Threadbare safety nets mean better protection products are needed for families
It’s now one year on from Beagle Street joining the OneFamily Group, bringing a highly recognisable insurance brand under the wing of one of the UK’s largest financial mutuals.
It meant that OneFamily had acquired a business that would expand our product range and could grow the support we provide to the underserved.
This is especially important at a time when the safety nets that people might have expected to be there are looking increasingly threadbare during a period of uncertainty for many families.
It’s becoming more apparent that individuals will need to take an even greater responsibility for their own financial resilience and especially their financial protection.
We know that nearly 7 in 10¹ people have no life insurance, perhaps it’s because some premiums are too high or because the products are too complicated. But a lack of suitable products and solutions can create immense difficulties in people’s lives, put simply this is financial exclusion.
"It’s becoming more apparent that individuals will need to take an even greater responsibility for their own financial resilience"
But I see OneFamily as playing an essential role in filling that gap, to be the trusted provider that supports those who are underserved elsewhere.
Afterall, everyone should have access to affordable life cover, it’s a basic financial need for anyone encountering a major life event such as the birth of their first child or getting a foot on the housing ladder.
So, bringing two established insurance brands together under one roof, has allowed us to reach even more families and to give them the peace of mind that they deserve.
"Everyone should have access to affordable life cover, it’s a basic financial need for anyone encountering a major life event"
Our goal is to build the scale in life insurance that we’ve successfully achieved in children’s savings to help to protect even more people against life’s big challenges.
As a modern dynamic mutual, we are owned by our members for our members. We don’t have shareholders to pay, so we can reinvest our profits to design the products and services that our members need.
In short, OneFamily’s team puts our members first in everything we do. It’s built into our values and ethos, so we actively listen to them and shape our services to fill their needs. But we can always do more. We should do more. We must do more.
And that is precisely what we intend to do with the life insurance market.
Jim places great value on the importance of education, citing it as the foundation stone upon which social mobility can be built. As OneFamily’s CEO, he wants to hold out his hand of support to those who don’t know where to turn and to use his platform to lift people up and inspire them to fulfil their potential.
He encourages thinking big, having great aspirations and setting audacious goals to free potential. With education, encouragement and empowerment he thinks that any child can achieve their biggest and most colourful of dreams.
Jim was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of financial mutual, OneFamily, in December 2023.
OneFamily is the UK’s third largest mutual with over 2m customers.
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