Environmental Angel calls on industry to cut paper policy use

A campaign to encourage the insurance industry to become more environmentally friendly has gained a record amount of support from brokers across the UK.

Directors' and officers' specialist Angel Underwriting said its Climate Care campaign - where brokers opt for an email rather than a paper policy when they use its online Quick Quote system - has been a resounding success.

Mark Shreeve, chief executive officer at Angel, said the campaign had become increasingly popular: "We were delighted with the response to our Climate Care campaign in 2007. With every quarter seeing an increase in the number of risks bound, we were able to offset more than 200 tonnes of CO2 during the year, which is extremely pleasing."

Angel launched the campaign in June 2006 to offset the company's carbon emissions, and to help fund the work of Climate Care in reducing global warming.

"The insurance sector has traditionally used a great deal of paper, but we are at the beginning of an industry shift - the number of paper policies have started to fall, and people are increasingly becoming more environmentally aware," Mr Shreeve said.

"Between October and December 2007 alone, we were able to offset 56.9 tonnes of CO2 because of support from brokers. This equated to a petrol car averaging 35 miles per gallon driving 190,744 miles."

Mr Shreeve also called for larger companies within the insurance industry to become more environmentally friendly.

"We are a small company with only 10 staff, and we have shown that there has been a shift in industry attitude - so imagine what difference a larger organisation could make to reducing carbon emissions," he added.

"Angel has always been committed to reducing its impact on the environment, and we were delighted that our broker network was able to join us in such a positive manner."