Herbalists Against Harm
Campaign to provide ethical insurance for medical herbalists and other therapeutic practitioners
by Kim Creswell, Dip.Herb.Med. MNIMH
15th February 2026
T he constant vigilance required to be true to one’s principles is tiring and I wish it were unnecessary. But as we stand in this world at a time of pivotal change I feel complacency is not an option. These days I choose very carefully where I spend my money. Both as a protest in a way that I am able, and also because to make those decisions and live by them is personally nourishing and empowering in this world of ‘strongman’ politics.
As a young person in the 1980’s I quickly realised that unless one could feed, house, clothe and medicate oneself one would always be subservient to and within the grip of a system governed by corporate greed. This strong personal resistance to such an Orwellian scenario led me to a life of self sufficiency; living as a horse-drawn sculptor, the creation of an off-grid small holding and nature reserve, and eventually to the robust medical training which now enables me to work as a medical herbalist.
I have huge pride in my profession, as time and time again I witness herbs healing patients who have been let down by Big Pharma. For me, working as a ‘radical herbalist’ includes standing against the inequalities and practices which do harm. Every practitioner resonates with different people. My patients have often commented that they come to me due to my refusal to blindly follow a neo-liberalist system, so obviously damaging to people and planet alike.
I’m not going to lie; sometimes it is tricky to follow your principles. For example, I recently decided to boycott a well known supplier of high quality tinctures due to a director’s support of hunting with hounds. Initially I missed those tinctures, but better ones came along. My patients trust me to check business investments to ensure they align with my stated ethos.
In December I received a renewal notice from my insurance provider, Balens. Practising medical herbalists are professionally obliged to have insurance, and many other herbalists – as well as other integrative medicine or therapy practitioners – will likely have the same policy via their representative professional organisations (many of which offer their members affiliate insurance with Balens).
Looking into the ethics of the policy (as I do with everything I spend my money on these days), I discovered that the underwriter – Zurich plc. – has deep complicity with highly destructive companies. Zurich are allegedly the eleventh highest global underwriters of fossil fuel companies. Amongst their clients are big petro-chemical enterprises responsible for many ecocidal actions, as well as companies complicit in the very worst of crimes against humanity.
I wrote to our specialist health and wellbeing insurance broker, raising concerns about the policy being in contravention to my professional obligation to do no harm, but was informed that they were unable to offer anything more compatible with my business model. This puts me in a difficult situation, as without this insurance I cannot practise as a medical herbalist and I cannot be a member of my chosen professional body.
Although the process of identifying viable alternatives is proving to be difficult, I have had preliminary conversations with other brokers who have suggested that there may be more appropriate alternatives. However this initiative must be spearheaded by the respective professional associations.
I know that this professional inconsistency will affect many others, so I started a petition – open to herbalists, therapeutic practitioners, students, patients, and anyone concerned. To this point it has already gathered over 450 signatures. I hope you will add your name if you feel it appropriate. Through this petition I was approached by another practising herbalist, Emny Kadri BSC MANP MGNC, and together we formed a collaborative platform, Herbalists Against Harm. We have created template letters for individuals to raise concerns directly with the organisations/insurance providers involved, which are available through the our Lnk.bio. If you would like to be more actively involved please do reach out.
So far, following this first two months of the campaign, nine professional organisations have responded:
Association of Naturopathic Practitioners (ANP)
General Council and Register of Naturopaths (GCRN)
National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH)
College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP)
Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM)
The Complimentary Medical Association (CMA)
Unified Register of Herbal Practitioners (URHP)
European Herbal and Traditional Practitioners Association (EHTPA)
British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA)
The first seven of these hold affiliate insurance with Balens and, generally speaking, are currently discussing the matter at council and engaging directly with Balens on behalf of their members. The last two don’t hold affiliate insurance, but many of their members do through other professional associations, and they have approached Balens with concerns about ethical underwriting and banking.
However no overt commitments have been made at this stage, so it is important that practitioners continue to let their professional associations (whose purpose is to represent their members) know that this is a critical matter of professional integrity; integrity which must include sourcing ethically appropriate services.
It appears that Balens are taking notice of the campaign. However their response has been so far underwhelming (they “recognise that this is an important topic for many of our clients” and are acting “in the best interests of our clients and to secure appropriate reliable cover”). I argue that using Zurich as an underwriter is not at all appropriate. If Balens fail to offer a more appropriate underwriter, Herbalists Against Harm have suggested that the professional associations form, or endorse, a working group to source more appropriate, comparable insurance.
Together we will create sustainable change.
An earlier version of this article appeared in the Winter 2025 edition of Power of Plants magazine.
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Kim Creswell is an environmental artist, willow sculptor, medical herbalist, author, and painter of horse drawn wagons in the heart of the Dorset countryside, working with British hedgerow materials. Trained in diagnosis and treatment, Kim supports patients at Goldberry Herbs, makes medicine using herbs grown at her off-grid, organically run small holding, and hosts herbal medicine classes.