Ecclesiastical Insurance's Broker Wellbeing Survey, which canvassed responses from 201 brokers, has found that almost half of those questioned rate their stress level as either high or very high. This is the highest percentage recorded since the survey launched in 2019. During the last 12 months, almost half said they had experienced anxiety or had been overwhelmed. A fifth said they had found themselves unable to cope.

The research found that workload was the main contributor of stress, cited by 70% of brokers, while 66% said the volume of regulation and compliance was the primary cause.

Additional factors included dealing with customer demands (53%), dealing with insurers (49%) and staff shortages (46%).

Ecclesiastical found that more than half of brokers (51%) felt there was a higher level of acceptance towards mental health within the industry, up by 8% on last year.

However, it found that more than one in ten believe there is still stigma attached to mental health issues in the industry.

David Carey, managing director of Ecclesiastical, said: “A stigma remains, preventing employees talking about mental health issues as freely as they would a physical health issue.

“It’s something our industry needs to continue to address, with senior leaders playing a key role in turning company policies into reality every day in the workplace. I fear we still have much work to do.”