Ten years ago, Dive In began in London with 100 people. 

In the decade since, hundreds of thousands have attended events and it is now the world’s largest diversity and inclusion festival. 

Dive In sessions were this week held in a record 53 cities as the insurance industry marked what Lloyd’s CEO John Neal described as “an incredible milestone”.  

The agenda has expanded from urging LGBT badges be worn in 2015 to be a global movement supporting inclusive workplace cultures. A broad agenda now encompasses neurodiversity, social mobility, fertility in the workplace, racial inclusion, invisible disabilities, artificial intelligence, mental health resilience and more. 

The award-winning festival was conceived by Lloyd’s, and Mr Neal reminisced with attendees as this year’s festival got underway last week with the theme “A Sustainable Future: The Next 10 Years”. 

“Without sounding like I'm presenting the Eurovision Song Contest, let me say from London that we're very happy to be sharing the Dive In global stage,” Mr Neal, who previously led QBE, said.  

“If you cast your mind back 10 years – I was actually living in Australia – it's amazing that we've come all this way. We've seen incredible growth, this year's bigger than ever before.” 

Mr Neal says with the right mindset, diversity and inclusion “can happen quickly.” 

“I get annoyed with ‘culture is a journey’ – it's not a journey, it's an attitude,” he said. “It's a value-add in business ...  Why should you not want to be as inclusive as much as you want to perform financially?”   

At the same session, Dive In chair Jason Groves remarked on “just how much this market and this industry has changed in 10 years”. 

"We have come a long way and I think it is indicative of how this industry is really very keen to understand these ideas and how we can make ourselves better, despite perhaps what you see in public commentary,” he said. 

Mr Groves, who is also Marsh McLennan media relations director, was a founding member of the festival. 

“I remember on the very first day of Dive In, we stood outside the Lloyd's cafe and said, ‘Do you want to be an ally for your LGBT colleagues? Would you wear a sticker?’ About 70% of people tried to pretend that we weren't there, about 20% said yes and 10% no thanks,” he said. 

“You would never get that kind of reaction today because attitudes have changed ... they want to educate themselves and they want to think about how to do things differently, and I think that's part of the change that's happened in this industry.” 

There were more than 130 Dive In sessions held worldwide last week, including 11 in Australia and New Zealand. 

At Breaking barriers: the role of insurance in financial inclusion and abuse prevention, Allianz head of customer advocacy, human rights and community partnerships Laura O'Donnell told attendees the insurer implemented a financial abuse strategy in 2020.  

Now, every time Allianz releases a new product or service, the impact is “checked from a family violence perspective,” she says. 

“We've certainly learned a lot,” Ms O’Donnell said. “We train all our staff ... not only frontline who are serving customers but those in the back office as well.” 

Allianz supports around 500 customers experiencing family violence each year and has seen a 200% increase in customers who cannot afford their premiums due to financial abuse.  

“They'll be leaving a relationship. Their funds have been frozen ...  they now can't use their insurance. They are escaping that situation using their car,” Ms O’Donnell said.   

Abusers change or cancel joint policies or redirect the payment of claims to accounts that partners cannot access. Policy terms often preclude cover for damage caused by a policyholder, but some insurers are introducing a ‘conduct of others’ clause as a standard to allow victims to claim when perpetrators deliberately damage property. 

So far this year, seven Allianz policyholders have burned down their house as a means of retribution against their partner. 

“That is incredibly damaging because the person – a woman in this instance – will be left without a home and asset and with the mortgage. That can be financially devastating, which is why things like the Conduct of Others clause is so, so important,” Ms O’Donnell said. 

"Perpetrators are always finding new ways to abuse. We are trying to always innovate, and trying to continually lift the bar and stay ahead of how products can be used to abuse.” 

See many more Dive In sessions here.