Sarah Goddard, Secretary General of AMICE, pictured at the AMICE & ICMIF  Mutual and Cooperative Insurance Communications Seminar hosted by IPB Insurance in Dublin. 

AMICE is proud to support the cooperative movement as part of the International Day of Cooperatives 2017 on 1 July. This year’s theme is inclusion, highlighting the people-focused nature of cooperative enterprises and other factors such as member control and economic participation.

The latest statistics from AMICE, released recently in Market InSights 2015 published jointly with ICMIF, show that 414 million member-policyholders were served by mutual and cooperative insurers in the EU in 2015. Almost 440,000 people were employed in the sector, a 31% increase in employment since the onset of the financial crisis. Almost one-third of the total EU insurance market premiums in 2015 was the responsibility of mutual and cooperative insurers.

Cooperative and mutual insurers have a closer relationship with their member/policyholders and society than typically seen in the stock-listed sector. The value of this relationship is illustrated in AMICE’s publication “Good practices vis-à-vis staff, member-policyholders and society.” The collection of more than 30 case studies of initiatives taken by AMICE members demonstrates the different ways they support and encourage different parts of the community.

Sarah Goddard, Secretary General of AMICE, said:

“As this year’s International Day of Cooperatives’ slogan states, cooperatives ensure no one is left behind. The inspiring stories in our “Good practices” publication show how Europe’s insurance mutuals and cooperatives are empowering people and championing equality.”