Britain’s Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has launched a project called the Aldermanbury Declaration, aimed at improving professional standards for general insurers.

The CII, whose Insurance Hall sits in Aldermanbury, London, describes the project as “an unprecedented call to the general insurance sector to commit to a framework of professional standards that uniquely is underpinned by credible and robust measures”.

It is the product of a taskforce led by institute President Barry Smith that spent six months analysing the challenges facing general insurance, and concluded that clearly defined action is needed to build public confidence.

The project aims at achieving measurable benefits including better outcomes for customers, improved standards of risk management, a more confident and trusted profession, more talented people and more rewarding careers.

For intermediaries it calls for at least half their operational management teams to be qualified to advanced diploma level.

The same level of qualification is expected of at least half the people in insurers’ senior claims management and senior underwriting management teams, and all lead underwriters in authorised agencies.

Individuals in key leadership and management positions – for example broker relationship managers and risk managers – are expected to be members of an appropriate professional body and hold relevant professional qualifications.

Companies are being encouraged to sign up to the declaration and publicly commit to meeting the standards in full before December 2013.