Insurance done good
It’s always a pleasure to find companies that embed ethical incentives in their business model. Insurance has great potential to do this, and here’s a company doing it well.
Interview with Dave Gardiner, Evergreen Insurance Services
Dave, please explain what makes Evergreen Insurance unique.
Unlike other insurance companies and brokers, our ethos is about “giving back.” Everyone needs insurance whether to protect their homes, cars, holidays or businesses so why not use a company who is doing the right thing and supporting charities from every policy arranged? We’ve partnered with some wonderful charities who are working so hard to protect our natural world, they can only do this through donations and other funding. If we can help provide donations from the arrangement of insurance products then it has to be a win win.
What lead you to create this company Dave?
I have spent over 20 years working in the insurance industry, working for some large global businesses. It always struck me that the motivation was all about the bottom line and profit margins, never about what is right and how can we support our natural world. It is great that these businesses are successful and provide employment but to me there is more than can and should be done and not just a tick box to cover off their corporate social responsibility. Making donations from our earnings helps to make a difference to the many projects that are run to protect threatened species not only in the UK but globally. I have a life long passion for nature, wildlife and animals and saw an opportunity to help through the arrangement of insurance. Over the years my partner (in life not business!) and I have rescued an number of animals from cats, rabbits to birds and have been fortunate enough to have other wild animals living in and around our garden including hedgehogs, foxes and badgers. We aim to make our garden an inviting habitat for many species offering them sanctuary, water and a place to feel safe – we specifically plant flowers that bees, butterflies and bugs enjoy helping our very important pollinators. We get so much pleasure from the visitors we get and want to help further with the projects we support through our charity partners.
Explain to us your business ideology if you would, the principles behind how you work, the values and intentions.
One of my frustrations with dealing with big corporate businesses, is never being able to speak to the same person twice, always having to repeat yourself, spending your time sat in complicated queuing systems and generally getting frustrated. I have almost turned the clock back to times when it is just straight forward, we offer personal professional service and advice and help our customers protect themselves, their properties or businesses. We are not on price comparison sites nor would we want to be, they certainly have a place in the market but for us it is about personal service and with our key value around “giving back”.
You must look at huge insurance companies, and wish they would have the same attitude and ethos as you. Does it frustrate you, do you hope more companies come to use an ethical incentive in the commercial practices?
When I see businesses that are turning over billions and do very little to help support charities, it frustrates me greatly. There is so much good that can be done, just by thinking outside of the box. We share our planet with so many beautiful species, any of which are under threat of extinction, which is largely down to us. We owe it to our fellow species to work with them, not against them and help provide the habitats that are needed for them to thrive. Without some species which are under threat such as our pollinators we will face food shortages, so we have to act to help.
Why do you choose to support animals, rather than other causes?
Largely due to my life time passion for nature, wildlife and animals. I get very upset by the treatment of animals through trophy hunting or farming, through to the plastics in our oceans affecting marine life – I want to do my bit to help. Evergreen is a business and we need to make money to cover our overheads but we don’t need to be greedy about it, we can help support at the same time.
Give us a vision of the future you’d love to see, 20 years from now.
The plastic crisis sorted, our marine life not destroyed and poisoned by our pollution. A world where people have more respect for our planet and the species we share it with, living in harmony with nature.
Thank you Dave, we wish you all the best with Evergreen, and we share your vision of hope for the future.
Interview by EthicalMuch co-founder Bird Lovegod
Photo by Sander Wehkamp on Unsplash