Otto Thoresen, the Association of British Insurers’ incoming Director-General, says the insurance industry needs an image makeover.

In an interview with the London Sunday Telegraph, he says there needs to be a distinction between the insurance industry’s success and the failures of the banking sector in the UK.

Mr Thoresen believes insurance has a “vital role to play” at the heart of PM David Cameron’s “big society” initiative.

He says one of the key factors in doing this is forging stronger relationships between customers and the industry.

“I think the industry has the opportunity to reassert itself as part of the answer for consumers, as they look to dealing with their financial futures, but also as part of the answer for the UK economy,” he said.

The industry employs more than 275,000 people in the UK and manages investments worth £1.6 trillion ($2.5 trillion).

“It’s something we don’t talk about enough,” Mr Thoresen said.

He believes this is partly to blame for the UK insurance industry’s image in terms of its scale and impact on the local economy.