The Co-operative Insurance, formally Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd, is a large insurance company based in
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It is one of the two main constituents of
Co-operative Financial ServicesCo-operative Banking Group Limited, formerly Co-operative Financial Services, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Co-operative Group Ltd. in the United Kingdom...
, which is in turn owned by Co-operative Group Ltd, formerly the Co-operative Wholesale Society.
The Co-operative Insurance is both a
general insurerGeneral insurance or non-life insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance typically comprises any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance. It is called property and...
and a life insurer, as well as a fund manager. It shares surpluses with holders of its
with-profits life policiesA with-profits policy or participating policy is an insurance contract that participates in the profits of a life insurance company. The company is often a mutual life insurance company, or had been one when it began its with-profits product line...
and with individual members of The Co-operative Group in proportion to their general insurance patronage. The insurer built and owns the second tallest building in Manchester, once the tallest building in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
History
The Co-operative Insurance Company was formed in 1867 to provide fire insurance to co-operative societies. In 1899 this became an
Industrial and Provident SocietyAn industrial and provident society is a legal entity for a trading business or voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and New Zealand...
and changed its name to Co-operative Insurance Society. The Society is authorised and regulated by the
Financial Services AuthorityThe Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
.
In 2002, Co-operative Financial Services was created as a holding company for both CIS and The Co-operative Bank including
SmileSmile, or smile.co.uk, is a British internet bank, and a trading division of The Co-operative Bank. It was established as the UK's first full internet bank in 1999. Other banks, like Egg and First-e, had opened in previous years but Smile was the first to offer full-service current accounts,...
, the first full internet bank. To maximise the co-operative identity, The Co-operative Group brought all of its businesses under the common
The Co-operative brand. CIS was re-branded The Co-operative Insurance in April 2008.
The Society's head office on Miller Street in Manchester city centre was, at the time of completion in 1962, the tallest building in Europe, standing at 387 feet (118 m). Since the opening of the
Beetham TowerBeetham Tower is a landmark 47-storey residential skyscraper in Manchester city centre, England. Completed in 2006, it is named after the developers, Beetham Organization, was designed by Ian Simpson, and built by Carillion....
in 2006, it is now the second tallest building in Manchester. In 2006 the
CIS TowerThe Co-operative Insurance Tower, or CIS Tower, is an office tower building on Miller Street in Manchester, England. It was completed in 1962 and rises to 387 feet in height. The Grade II listed building, which houses Co-operative Financial Services, a part of The Co-operative Group, is...
was clad in solar panels, becoming Europe's largest vertical solar array.
The Society has a tradition of
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
sponsorship. It currently sponsors the
Scottish League CupThe Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the
Irish Football League CupThe Irish League Cup, or the IRN-BRU League Cup, is the third-highest rated competition in domestic Northern Irish football competition after the IFA Premiership and Irish Cup. It has been sponsored by Irn Bru since the 2011–12 season. From 2001–02 to 2010–11 it was been sponsored by Co-operative...
in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Subsidiaries
The Co-operative Insurance and The Co-operative Investments are trading names of Co-operative Insurance Society. The following are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Society, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority:
- CIS General Insurance Limited
- CIS Unit Managers Limited
- CIS Policyholder Services Limited
In 2006 CIS split its life and general insurance businesses into two separate entities and CISGIL was established, within which all new and renewing insurance business is now being written. All existing CIS general insurance business is now reinsured with CISGIL and CIS will in future continue to write long-term savings and insurance business only. CFS Management Services Ltd was created at the same time to provide common support services to CIS and CISGIL.
Membership
A co-operative is a business, but more than this, it acts together to meet the common needs and aspirations of its members, sharing ownership and making decisions democratically. Co‑operatives are not about making big profits for shareholders, but creating value for their members. Their top priority is to provide the best possible services for their members and to invest in the communities where they live. This gives co‑operatives a unique character and influences what they stand for.
Members of The Co-operative Group are entitled to earn
dividendDividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...
on home and motor policies held with the Society. With-profits policy holders share in the surpluses of the life assurance fund.
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