CII launches online ethics course

The course is free to CII members and aims to help advisers to update their knowledge on the CII Code of Ethics by exploring what ethics means for insurers, financial service providers and their employees.

Duncan Minty, an independent practitioner in business ethics, has designed the course to run in conjunction with a series of podcasts on ethics that he has also produced. The course supports and reinforces the CII’s Code of Ethics and is aligned with related themes in the FSA’s Retail Distribution Review and Principles of Business.

Mr Minty said: “The CII’s consumer research shows the extent to which public confidence in financial services has been dented by the banking crisis, with 77% of respondents now expecting the public to be less truthful when dealing with financial services. That’s a worrying figure, but one which the CII’s drive for higher professional standards is tackling head on.

“What surprised me was the one in five people who felt it was acceptable to lie to insurers because insurers 'are not always honest with their customers'.

"If the public are simply reflecting what they believe to be unethical behaviour by insurers, then we need to face up to that challenge and show our customers that we are achieving higher professional standards and embracing ethics wholeheartedly.”