ibuyeco backs environmental charities
Eco insurance provider selects charitable partners
June 2009
Eco car insurance provider, ibuyeco has pledged its support to three leading environmental charities through making a donation each and every time they sell or renew a policy.
ibuyeco polled its customers to select The Woodland Trust, Borneo Orangutan Survival and The Converging World. Customers can choose which charity will receive a £5 donation when they purchase or renew an ibuyeco policy. ibuyeco aim to donate £1 million by 2011 to various eco charities, so in the future other eco charities will be given the opportunity to be chosen and receive the donation.
The charity donation is completely funded by ibuyeco and will come at no extra cost to customers, meaning ibuyeco’s premiums continue to be very competitive, regularly appearing in best-buy tables and top on price comparison websites. This means ibuyeco customers can now enjoy great car cover that “saves more than just money”.
The donation has been introduced to give customers the opportunity to support a wider range of environmental concerns that are UK registered charities. As a business that wishes to support consumers’ desire to tackle climate change, ibuyeco will also continue to offer customers the opportunity to offset their carbon emissions from their driving, ibuyeco will calculate their tonnage when they get a quote and provide an easy way for them to offset! As well as providing useful tips to reduce the amount of carbon their driving produces.
Lucy Bailey, Senior Marketing Manager for ibuyeco, said: “The green agenda is now part of the mainstream and consumers are demanding products that are not only high quality and good value, but also environmentally responsible. The three chosen charities, which all support green causes, were selected by current ibuyeco customers in an email poll.”
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity which has over 1,000 woods in its care and continues to buy threatened woods and plant trees. Over half a million trees are planted by the Woodland Trust every year ensuring that woods, wildlife and the environment can continuously grow.
Sue Holden, Chief Executive of The Woodland Trust, said: “We were delighted to find out that the Woodland Trust came out as one of the top charities from the ibuyeco survey and are pleased to feature as one of the car insurers’ chosen charities. By choosing to support the Trust when you take out your car insurance you will be helping the charity create places rich in trees and more woods for people to enjoy. Woodland is a natural playground which generations of people will come to enjoy and also provides vital habitats for thousands of species. Your help with enable the charity to continue to carry out our vital woodland conservation work.”
The Converging World is a UK charity which works on a global basis to tackle climate change and create initiatives that support the move towards an equal and sustainable world. The charity focuses on long term results which empower people anywhere in the world to meet climate challenges through local action in a sustainable way. They invest in renewable energy projects in the developing world and ALL of the profits from these investments are used to fund vital health, education and environmental projects around the world.
Anita Beardsley of The Converging World, said: "We are proud to discover that ibuyeco's customers voted us one of their charities of choice to support. Allowing customers to choose to donate to our cause when they take out a policy with ibuyeco means people can support us in our work to generate renewable energy, reduce carbon emissions and help support developing communities around the world by investing in projects that support change.”
The third chosen charity is the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation which is dependent solely on donations. It is focused on supporting the growth of the orangutan species by protecting its rainforest habitat and by rehabilitating orangutans, preparing them ultimately to be released back into the wild.
Grainne McEntee, Head of Operations, BOS UK, said: “We believe the work we do to protect this special and incredible species is incredibly worthwhile and whilst we are proud of our achievements so far, our work is far from over. So to be supported by ibuyeco is fantastic news for us and also for their customers who want to protect this world for the future generations.”
The insurance is sold directly on 0800 294 7570 and www.ibuyeco.co.uk, or through a price comparison site.
For more information, visit www.ibuyeco.co.uk.
-ends-
Notes to editors
For more information, contact
Laura Johnston/Isabel Shirley
ibuyeco Press Office
Tel: 020 7492 0977
Email: ibuyeco@77pr.co.uk
About ibuyeco and BGL Group
ibuyeco was launched by the BGL Group on World Environment Day, 5th June 2007, offering consumers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions from their driving when they purchased an ibuyeco car insurance policy.
The BGL Group was founded in 1992 and has grown to become one of the UK’s largest personal lines insurance intermediaries.
Other brands within the BGL Group include Budget car, van and home insurance and Bennetts bike insurance. Junction, BGL Group’s affinity business, works with brands like Post Office®, HSBC, M&S Money, RAC and Auto Trader to offer insurance products to their customers. The Group also offers a wide range of supplementary products including breakdown cover and legal protection.
The BGL Group has more than 2.3 million customers and more than £600 million GWP. It operates major contact centre operations (Fusion) in Peterborough, Coventry, Sunderland, Peterlee in the UK, and Cape Town, South Africa. The Group currently employs more than 2,150 people with its head office in Peterborough. 2008 saw the Group enjoy its 11th consecutive year of record profits.
In October 2008 the Group was ranked 175th in the Sunday Times HSBC Top Track 250 of Britain’s 250 biggest mid-market private companies by latest sales – higher than Manchester United Football Club, McLaren racing cars and Harvey Nichols department stores.
In 2007 the Group won the coveted title of Large Business of the Year in the regional Business Awards 2007 hosted by the Evening Telegraph, Peterborough. The Group’s affinity business, Junction, won Marketing Campaign of the Year 2007 at the Insurance Times awards.
ibuyeco is a trading name of BISL Limited, part of the BGL Group of Companies. BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered Address: Pegasus House, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, PE2 6YS. Registered in England no 3231094.
About The Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity and has more than 1,000 woods in its care – all of which are freely open to the public. The Woodland Trust has been buying threatened woods and planting trees since the seventies – more than 500,000 trees are planted by the Woodland Trust each year.
The UK needs more trees; lots of them. The Woodland Trust is working with communities, and with the help of companies such as ibuyeco, to plant millions more. Their ultimate aim is to double native woodland cover whilst continuing to protect ancient woods. For more information visit www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
About Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS)
Borneo Orangutan Survival is dedicated to saving the orangutan from extinction and protecting its rainforest home. BOS is responsible for the rescue and rehabilitation of hundreds of wild and orphaned orangutans. They rely entirely on donations to continue their work and achieve their goal - to rehabilitate and prepare these orangutans for a life in the wild and ultimately return them to their wild rainforest home. For more information visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk
About The Converging World
The Converging World is a UK based charity whose objectives are to tackle climate change whilst supporting the move towards a just and sustainable world. The Converging World model uses donations to create long term revenue streams that will both reduce CO2 emissions and contribute to sustainable development.
The charity invests in renewable energy projects in the developing world and owns wind turbines in India. The turbines produce clean electricity and Gold Standard certified emission reductions (CERs). All of the profits from these investments provide long-term funding for vital health, education and environmental projects around the world. They are also committed to the provision of long-term development funding for the communities living near their turbines and work with a local NGO called Social Change & Development (SCAD).
The Converging World has been recognised as a premium project in the carbon market by Gold Standard for their outstanding level of community engagement and the provision of ongoing support. For more information visit www.theconvergingworld.org or email info@theconvergingworld.org