Part of the Community

Not Just An Insurance Provider For The  LGBT Community, Women and Non-Traditional Families

As a company, our first priority is – and always will be – providing our customers with equality of experience, starting with thoughtful insurance for those customers that do not fit within the mainstream mould.

But coming a close second on our list of priorities is the desire to always be a trusted, valued, and active advocate for those communities. We want to be more than just a service provider.

And our insurance products are suitable for the community as a whole.  We provide equality of service and equality of product, so that all our customers, irrespective of gender, sexuality or family structure, get polite and respectful service to back up the Emerald products.

Refusing to settle

A worrying aspect of the financial, care and insurance industries is that they very rarely consider the particular needs of today’s diversity. Because these industries have a broad offering, they tend to develop ‘one-size-fits-all’ products and services. This can mean that those products and services often don’t meet the specific needs or wants of Emerald’s customers.

It was this lack of attention towards anything outside a 1950s view of the nuclear family that sparked us into action and drove us to launch Emerald Life. We hope that one day Emerald will come to represent equality of experience for all consumers everywhere. We started with the LGBT community, then women and non-traditional families, and we hope then even further. Our aim is to become a trusted and passionate presence and advocate within the communities we serve.

Part of the LGBT community; part of the women’s community

So what got us here? Well, we think our people are a big part of it. Our entire team carries a resolute enthusiasm for being involved in issues and causes surrounding equality, diversity and inclusion, beyond simply insurance.

Steve Wardlaw, one of our founders, is a long-standing champion of issues around LGBT equality. He is recognised as being amongst the top LGBT business leaders in the UK (most recently by The Daily Telegraph and Financial Times). Meanwhile, Steve’s co-founder, Heidi McCormack, has worked internationally and been a strong supporter of LGBT and women’s issues. While in Russia, she helped roll out HIV awareness education programmes, platforms and support groups to companies, teaching managers how to be more supportive and educating HR departments on legal and medical issues.

And as our team continues to expand, everyone who calls Emerald Life their employer understands why we have a real and active interest in supporting and arguing for the equality that fits with today’s more diverse and open society..

Our partners and grassroots advocacy

Being a genuine part of any community means advocating the organisations and causes that are positively affecting it. For us, this manifests itself through our partnerships. We’ve already developed a host of strong bonds with various community and advocacy groups, both big and small – which we believe will improve the lives of the communities that we work for, whether they’re customers of ours or not.

Our current partners include Stonewall, the Albert Kennedy Trust, Diversity Role Models, the Human Dignity Trust and WOFFF. And as we grow, so will our list of collaborations.

The Emerald Difference

From our own background, and with everything we’ve learnt about the diverse communities we’re serving, we’ve created a frank way of describing The Emerald Difference – the attitude that we think sets us apart as a company.

How We See Ourselves: 

  • We are an insurance company aiming to protect and represent the LGBT community, women and non-traditional families, while providing great service and competitively-priced products for everyone with an interest in diversity and inclusion.
  • We’re committed to expanding our product and service offering so that the communities we serve will be able to obtain financial security.
  • If we don’t properly understand an area, then we will work hard to make sure that we do
  • We ask for feedback and we listen
  • We’re as passionate about delivering exceptional service as you are about receiving it

If you feel there’s something that we need to add, please let us know. That’s exactly what our charter is about. Otherwise, watch this space to see how Emerald Life grows as a challenger brand and commnity advocate – and hopefully improves the lives of our customers, our friends and our communities in general.