Staff at the Gloucestershire headquarters of the Ecclesiastical Insurance company are being paid a 'Financial Wellbeing Award' to help them cope with the cost of living crisis.

The charity-owned insurer, based in Brockworth, has announced the one-off payment - the amount of which has not been disclosed - to employees who earn below £50,000 a year.

A package of other measures including discounted retail cards and interest free loans has also been announced by Ecclesiastical to help its workers.

"Colleagues earning less than £50,000 will receive the Financial Wellbeing Award payments in two instalments, the first being made in October and the second in January, to provide some financial help to help offset the increased cost of living," said a company spokesperson.

"Ecclesiastical Insurance gives all available profits back to the communities it serves and, along with its owner Benefact Group, has an ambition to be the number one corporate donor in the UK.

"In 2021 the company was given a two star rating by Best Companies, classing it as outstanding to work for.

"On top of the Financial Wellbeing Award, the business also offers a range of benefits to support financial wellbeing including discounted retail cards, interest free employee loans, discounted financial advice, counselling support through an Employee Assistance Programme, healthcare plans and up to 12 per cent in pension contributions.

"Ecclesiastical is also a member of the Living Wage Foundation - committed to paying the Real Living Wage."

Caroline Taplin, group HR director at Ecclesiastical, said: "We are very aware of the challenging economic environment and the impact that may be having on our colleagues and their families.

"While many of the factors creating the cost of living crisis are outside of all of our control, there is something we can do to help.

"We've introduced a Financial Wellbeing Award to help our colleagues navigate these challenging times and show our appreciation for all of the effort they put in throughout the year - without them we wouldn't be able to achieve our aim of growing the business so we can give more to charity."

The company's announcement of help with the cost of living for its less well paid staff comes just days after Ecclesiastical held onto the top spot for a record sixteenth year running in the Fairer Finance Home Insurance league table as the UK's most trusted home insurance provider.

The firm was again first in a list of 50 insurers, including household names such as NFU Mutual, Nationwide, Bank of Scotland and TSB and retained its Gold Ribbon status for another year.

Fairer Finance, an independent consumer group, surveys around 20,000 UK banking and insurance customers throughout the year, asking them to rate how satisfied they are with their bank or insurance company.

Customers are asked to rate the firms on happiness and trust.

Fairer Finance then uses records from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to assess complaints handling and a combination of mystery shopping and policy document reviews to assess transparency.

Ecclesiastical came first in most trusted and customer happiness, and second for complaints handling, achieving an overall customer experience score of 84 per cent to top the table once again - 5 per cent higher than closest rivals NFU Mutual.

Mark Hews, group chief executive of Benefact Group, the parent company of Ecclesiastical, said: "It's fantastic news that we're once again the most trusted insurer in the Fairer Finance league tables.

"Our teams have shown once again that they are committed to delivering the best possible service for our customers despite the challenges facing so many of us.

"Being owned by a charity, we measure our success less in terms of the profit we make, but more in terms of the amount we give away to good causes. That charitable purpose feels even more relevant in these difficult times and spurs us on to grow the business.

"I'm so proud to have been recognised as the most trusted home insurer once again, and it will help us to grow to give even more to good causes."

James Daley, managing director at Fairer Finance, said: "Ecclesiastical is also rated highest for customer happiness as well as customer trust - results that we take from our survey of 10,000 customers every six months.

"Maintaining the top spot for such a long time is no mean feat. Congratulations to Ecclesiastical for continuing to lead the way in this sector."