December 2009: Irish Life wins Global Award for Jargon-Free Language

Irish Life has been named as the best company in the world for using jargon-free language in an award chosen by the UK's Plain English campaign. Watch the BITCI Inspiring Excellence video highlighting Irish Life's Plain English Campaign as one of the 10 best examples of corporate responsibility best practice in the past 5 years. Inspiring Excellence: Irish Life's Plain English Campaign The insurer was chosen personally by Chrissie Maher OBE, who is the founder of the Plain English Campaign, an independent, internationally recognised group based in the UK which lobbies governments and businesses to remove gobbledygook, jargon and legalese from public information. The award acknowledges the organisation that Maher believes is the best overall at plain English and crystal-clear communication during her 40 years of campaigning. Irish Life was chosen ahead of 12,000 organisations from a wide range of backgrounds and industry sectors located in over 80 countries across the world. Presenting the special award to Irish Life, Maher said: “In my 40 years of campaigning, Irish Life has stood out for giving clear, honest and straightforward information to their customers. “I have seen Irish Life's determination to get it right and the struggles to find a balance between what the legal advisors say and what customers want and need from a service they can understand and trust. “I believe Irish Life has managed to balance both sides very well. It has set the standard for all organisations,” Maher added. The Chief Executive of Irish Life Retail Gerry Hassett said he was honoured to accept the award on behalf of the staff at Irish Life: “Winning the Chrissie Maher Plain English 30th Anniversary Award is a huge honour for everyone in Irish Life. In particular we're very proud as an Irish company to be independently recognised in this way, not just against leading organisations in the UK but from right across the world. “We're absolutely committed to giving our customers clear and concise information. So the real satisfaction for us in winning this award is that we think it shows we are going in the right direction.” The Plain English Awards took place in London on Tuesday 8th December with comedian Lenny Henry hosting the ceremony. Pictured above: Gerry Hassett CEO Irish Life Retail with Lenny Henry