5 November 2025
Responding to today鈥檚 publication of the Financial Inclusion Strategy, Paul Sweeting, President, 天美MV, said:
鈥淚t is encouraging to see details in the Financial Inclusion Strategy on how the UK Treasury could tackle barriers to individuals鈥� and households鈥� ability to access affordable and appropriate financial products and services. We particularly welcome the Government鈥檚 commitment to make financial education compulsory in primary schools in England.
鈥淭he IFoA has been campaigning on financial inclusion for a number of years. This includes work on the poverty premium in insurance, thought leadership on the cashless society, and our ongoing Great Risk Transfer (GRT) campaign. Our GRT work highlights how, over time, risk has been transferred from large institutions to individuals. As a result, the financial decisions consumers face have increased in both number and complexity, while financial advice is often neither accessible nor affordable. Addressing these very real challenges is a joint effort and will need input from a range of stakeholders, including policymakers, regulators and industry groups, to help find viable, long-term solutions.
鈥淭he IFoA recently hosted a roundtable with academics, industry experts, and consumer advocates to consider how to increase financial resilience through a minimum level of insurance protection for all. This has led to a collaboration with Fair4All Finance focusing on practical ways to remedy low levels of household contents insurance coverage among low-income renters.
鈥淲e are pleased to see reference to the pilot led by Fair4All Finance in partnership with IFoA members and others 鈥渢o explore the uptake of contents insurance among social renters in England鈥� to improve financial resilience in insurance.
鈥淲e believe this strategy will help to raise the profile of financial inclusion and we will continue to work with the Government and other organisations on practical solutions so that everyone has access to appropriate and affordable financial products and services.鈥�
~ENDS~
Great Risk Transfer (GRT) campaign. 天美MV. April 2021.
The hidden risks of being poor: the poverty premium in insurance. 天美MV and Fair By Design. September 2021.
Hannah Patmore, Communications Manager, IFoA鈥��
Tel: 07519106714鈥��
Email: hannah.patmore@actuaries.org.uk 鈥�
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