Education Mutual is the latest firm to join the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM), becoming the organisation’s 50th member.
Education Mutual, a national mutual, launched in July 2018 to provide cover for schools for staff absences and other health services. The mutual’s core purpose is to be ‘By Schools, for Schools’, which means schools and academies that sign up to its services automatically become members.
The mutual insurance industry has doubled its market share in the 10 years since the financial crisis, and this latest addition reflects a growing interest in the mutual business model from sectors that find existing insurance cover represents poor value.
Martin Shaw, Chief Executive of AFM, commented: “I’m delighted that Education Mutual has become our 50th member. It is great to see the establishment of any new mutual organisation, and seeing the way the education sector has quickly embraced their own mutual is proof that the model is as relevant today as it was when local communities and trades set up their own mutuals in the 19th 
century.”
Nick Hurn OBE, Chair of Education Mutual, CEO of Trinity Catholic MAT and Headteacher of Cardinal Hume Catholic School, added: “We are honoured and delighted to be a new member of this highly prestigious and well-regarded professional association. The Association of Financial Mutuals has a well-deserved national reputation for excellence, probity and financial acumen. Education Mutual’s membership of the AFM is further proof of our company’s relevance and appropriateness for academies, schools and colleges. There is a growing demand among the education sector for a scheme like ours that brings all the benefits of being a member of a mutual.”
