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Our story

Almost 125 years ago a group of church people got together to establish the grandly titled Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office.

Since then, the name Ecclesiastical has stayed with us as we’ve grown and gone on to become one of the largest British-owned insurers. Of course, today we offer much more than just award-wining insurance – we now provide financial services, risk management, investments and more.

See how the principles that saw us set out as church insurers in 1887 are still important to us as an international insurance and financial services provider today.

Our roots

Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office was founded in 1887. Our founders had the idea of insuring churches and church buildings and ploughing any profits they made back into the charitable work of the church – a commitment that we’re proud to say we still keep today. 

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    From little acorns

    By May 1888, we already had over 2,000 policyholders, and our records show that we’d paid out claims worth £6 and 12 shillings.

Branching out

Up until 1895, we only offered insurance for churches – and we only insured against fire too.  We still insure churches today – in fact we now insure 96% of Anglican churches in England and Wales.  However, we’ve gone on to insure much more.

Some of the types of insurance we’ve added give clues to changes in society and the way we live.

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    Protecting those who care

    Over the years we've grown to provide tailored insurance solutions for organisations and people who care - such as charities and heritage property owners.
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    Growing

    Today we use all our skill, knowledge and experience to provide a broad range of insurance, financial services and risk management solutions to meet the specific needs of our customers and business partners.

Changing times

Caring has been in our DNA since we were founded.  How we do our work will change with the times and as technology evolves.  But our honesty and integrity remains and earns us far greater trust than others in this field, at at time when it's never been more important.

  • Caroline Harwood in our Ecclesiastical office 30 years ago  

    Then and now

    Caroline Harwood started work at Ecclesiastical in 1980 and remembers how she started out using a mini-computer:

    ‘It was as big as my desk now and a cross between a typewriter and a computer. When the computers arrived, they were huge. We had three of them between ten of us, and we even had to take it in turns to use them.’  Caroline Harwood, Direct Commercial Underwriter

    New technologies mean that we’ll soon be able to offer all product documents in electronic format, so people can choose not to use paper at all.

About us

1887 - Ecclesiastical Buildings Fire Office was founded by Churchmen, largely to protect churches from the consequences of fire.

1919 – We began to offer life insurance as people are starting to realise the need to protect the things they hold dear.

1957 – With more and more people becoming car owners we started to offer motor insurance.

1959 – We offered our first travel insurance product. This is right at the start of the boom in package holidays and people travelling further afield for their holidays.

1978 – We launched the first of our specialist policies for schools and care homes, now known as education insurance  and care insurance. This is at a time when schools were starting to have more responsibility for their own budgets and more equipment. The care home industry is growing too, as people live longer.

In the 1980’s the average UK male was expected to live into his early 70’s. Now, 30 years on, this has now risen to an average life expectancy of nearly 80.

1985 – We launched our first property owners’ insurance product as more people are investing in other properties, as well as their own homes.

1988 – We were one of the first companies to launch a socially responsible investment fund.  It was launched as a centenary celebration product to help clergy have access to the stock market.

2000 – With our long relationship with the church, it seemed natural for us to offer wedding insurance. Couples are spending more time and money on making their big day special.

2006 – We launched our award-winning Heritage Insurance  – the first dedicated insurance product for commercial heritage properties.

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc. (EIO) Reg. No. 24869. Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc. (EIG) Reg. No. 1718196. Ecclesiastical Life Ltd. (ELL) Reg. No. 243111. Ecclesiastical Investment Management Ltd (EIM) Reg. No. 2519319. Ecclesiastical Financial Advisory Services Ltd. (EFAS) Reg. No. 2046087. Ecclesiastical Services Ltd. (ES) Reg. No. 1811698. E.I.O. Trustee Ltd Reg. No. 941199. All companies are registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1JZ, UK. EIO, ELL, EIM & EFAS are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and are members of the Financial Ombudsman Service. EIO & ELL are members of the Association of British Insurers and EIM is a member of the Investment Management Association.