Union Jack flag icon Canada flag Canada Ireland flag Ireland
Church
Insurance specialisms
Financial advice
Resources
Insurance specialisms
Schemes
Resources
Media centre Ecclesiastical Insurance Group becomes Benefact Group

Ecclesiastical Insurance’s parent company renames as Benefact Group

The new name and brand identity marks an ambitious new chapter for the charitable owned Group and its family of specialist businesses including Ecclesiastical Insurance.

Owned by a registered charity, Benefact Trust, Benefact Group gives all its available profits to good causes. The new name better reflects the Group’s diversity, breadth, and purpose – it derives from Latin and means to do well by supporting a person or good cause.

Originally created to protect parish churches from fire, the Group has been in existence for over 130 years and has grown to become an international family of three divisions: insurance, investments, and broker and advisory, with operations in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia. It includes over 30 specialist financial businesses, including Ecclesiastical Insurance, EdenTree Investment Management, SEIB, Lycetts, and Lloyd & White brokers. Ecclesiastical Insurance and all of the Group’s other trading brands will continue to operate under their names, now proudly part of the Benefact Group.

Benefact Group, which owns Ecclesiastical Insurance, is the fourth-largest corporate donor to charity in the UK1 and has ambitious plans to give £250million to good causes by 2025. All of the Group’s trading brands will operate to the same high ethical standards, united in a belief that better business can mean better lives, beyond business and out into our communities.

The Benefact Group, formerly named Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, has given over £100million to good causes in recent years through various programmes such as the Movement for Good awards, which accepts charitable nominations from both its customers and the wider public. It also gives a proportion of its profits to its charitable owner, the Benefact Trust, who help transform lives and communities.

The Group’s giving supports a wide range of causes across different sectors including education and skills, rural, heritage, arts, faith, climate change, animal and wildlife charities.

“Benefact Group, the fourth largest corporate donor in the UK, is a very different financial services group. We are owned by a charity which means all our available profits can be given to good causes. As a company whose purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, charitable giving is at the heart of what we do. I’m very proud of our new name which reflects our unique purpose, the breadth of what we offer our valued trading partners and marks an ambitious new chapter for the Group and our family of specialist businesses.”

Mark Hews, Benefact Group Chief Executive Officer

“Ecclesiastical Insurance is proud to be part of the Benefact Group. Ecclesiastical will continue to trade as it always has as a specialist expert in our markets and a trusted partner to brokers. We’re proud of our reputation as one of the most trusted, ethical and high quality insurers in our markets, and of the positive impact we continue to make on society, by giving back all of our available profits to churches, charities and other good causes. This mission gives us all real continuity of purpose, and a continued focus on growing our business with our partners, so we can deliver more to those good causes.”

Richard Coleman, Ecclesiastical UK Managing Director

To learn more about the Benefact Group and its unique purpose visit: www.benefactgroup.com

1 UK Guide to Company Giving 2021/2022

Media enquiries

Contact the press office team:

0800 783 8141

Please do not call this number for general enquiries.

News articles

All news >
News

Museums urged to take steps to prevent crime following Louvre theft

Ecclesiastical is encouraging museums to review their security precautions to protect valuables following the high-profile smash and grab theft from Paris’ Louvre Museum.

News

Broker wellbeing

Stress levels are at an all-time high, but brokers have tools to cope with everyday pressures

News

Escape of water incidents

Ecclesiastical has found 60% of high-net-worth (HNW) property owners have experienced an escape of water incident in the last five years.

News

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc announces results for the half year ended 30 June 2025

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (“Ecclesiastical”), the specialist insurance group*, today announces its 2024 interim results.

News

Ecclesiastical - Which? Best Buy 2025

Leading consumer magazine Which? has again named Ecclesiastical’s Home Insurance as a Best Buy for the third year in a row.

News

Heritage open days

Heritage Open Days bring opportunities to explore hidden gems.

News

Ecclesiastical urges property owners to take precautions ahead of storm season

Ecclesiastical Insurance is encouraging customers to take precautions to help prevent property damage ahead of the coming storm season.

News

Swedish church move a spectacle

The Swedish church move is a spectacle, but it serves as a reminder of subsidence risks.

News

Crime concerns drive purchases of copies

Ecclesiastical reveals a surge in the purchase of replica items as anxious collectors worry about being targeted by criminals.

News

Neil McGeachie appointed Operations Director

Ecclesiastical Insurance has appointed Neil McGeachie as its new UK Operations Director for an initial period of a year.

News

Insurer sounds alarm on growing property risks amid prolonged dry conditions

Ecclesiastical Insurance is urging property owners to take precautionary steps as the risk of subsidence and wildfires increases following an extended dry spell.

News

Britain’s heritage attractions urged to take steps to prevent crime

Specialist insurer recommends heritage property owners take security steps this summer.