01Move
DNA dimensions
Live policy count, renewals retention, gross written premium (GWP), commission + fee yield, claims-handled NPS, cross-sell ratio and review velocity on Google + Trustpilot.
All playbooksServices
Insurance broker playbook.
A CII-qualified London insurance broker placing commercial, professional indemnity, cyber and HNW personal lines. The win is moving from transactional new-business chasing into a retained renewals book with a 90%+ retention rate and embedded cyber + claims-advocacy services.
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Overview
A London CII-qualified broker placing £2m–£8m GWP earns 12–22% commission + £100–£600 fee per policy. The single biggest economic lever is renewals retention — every 1% improvement above 88% lifts firm valuation by 0.15x EBITDA on exit. The second lever is cross-sell: a commercial client buying just cyber + PI on top of liability adds 60–110% to revenue with near-zero CAC. This playbook covers operationalising a London commercial broker — FCA authorisation, insurer agencies, sector specialism and the renewals + claims-advocacy pipeline.
88–94%
Renewals retention
1.6–2.4 lines / client
Cross-sell ratio
£1.4m–£3.2m
GWP / broker FTE
What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
Workstation + comms
Laptop + docking + dual 27" monitors
£1,600–£2,600
FCA call-recording (CloudCall / Dubber / Redbox)
£18–£42 / user / month
4K webcam + headset
£260–£540
Locked FCA-compliant file storage + secure backup
£280–£640
02
Broker platform + sourcing
Acturis / Open GI / SSP Pure subscription
£180–£480 / user / month
Polaris quote-and-buy + comparison data
£60–£180 / month
Cyber risk assessment (KYND / Cyber Tzar)
£40–£120 / case
DocuSign + secure client portal
£25–£80 / user / month
Premium-finance facility (Premium Credit / Close Brothers)
Commission share
03
Authorisation + insurance
FCA DA application + first-year levy
£1,500 + £900–£2,200
Appointed Representative network (alternative to DA)
£6,000–£24,000 / yr
Professional indemnity £2m–£10m (broker PI)
£3,600–£14,000 / yr
Cyber insurance + GDPR portal
£480–£1,400 / yr
Lloyd's broker accreditation (if applicable)
£12,000–£40,000 / yr
Where to set up
Location is half the business.
Commercial client density
10k+ SMEs within 5 miles
Commercial broking is local + relationship-led; SME density drives both walk-in trade and referral economics.
Insurer + Lloyd's underwriter proximity
EC2/EC3 cluster
Face-time with underwriters wins quotes and resolves disputes; remote-only brokers leak both speed and price.
Sector specialism postcode
Tech (E1/EC2), hospitality (W1/E1), construction (E14/E16)
Sector-niche brokers attract 40–80% premium fees + faster cross-sell.
Meeting room access
Bookable private room
HNW + commercial reviews need privacy; insurer audits prefer in-person evidence.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
City / EC2 / EC3
£1,400–£4,200 serviced office
Lloyd's + insurer face-time; positioning for HNW + corporate; premium yields.
Inner London (EC1, E1, SE1, N1)
£800–£2,200 co-working + room
Best for tech + creative SME specialism; close to client base.
Commuter belt (Bromley, Croydon, Reading, Watford)
£500–£1,400 high-street unit
Trades + SME volume; lower yield per policy but high retention.
Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCII Cert / Dip / ACII qualification
Chartered Insurance Institute
£840–£3,400 total
6–24 months
ReqFCA Directly Authorised application (general insurance)
FCA
£1,500 + £900–£2,200 annual
16–28 weeks
OptAppointed Representative network (alternative to DA)
Bravo / Compass / UK Global / Be Wiser
£6,000–£24,000 / yr
6–10 weeks
ReqBroker professional indemnity £2m–£10m
Manchester Underwriting / RSA / Beazley
£3,600–£14,000 / yr
2 weeks
ReqICO data-protection registration
ICO
£40–£60 / yr
1 day
ReqSM&CR statements of responsibility + CPD 35 hrs / yr
Internal + CII
£140–£420 / yr
Rolling
Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Weeks 1–16 · Qualify + authorise
1–16- Complete CII Cert (minimum) or Dip if specialising in commercial / HNW
- Choose DA vs AR route + submit application
- Secure broker PI + ICO + bank account + Ltd structure
- Set up Acturis / Open GI + DocuSign + call recording
02
Weeks 17–24 · Insurer panel + sector niche
17–24- Secure 6–10 insurer agencies (Aviva / RSA / AXA / Hiscox / CFC / Beazley / Markel)
- Choose 1–2 sector specialisms + build sector-specific quote templates
- Sign 4 accountant + 3 solicitor referral pods with revenue-share
- Stand up renewals calendar (75/60/30/14-day cadence) in Acturis
03
Weeks 25–36 · First 30 live policies
25–36- Target 30 live policies (£60k–£180k GWP)
- Achieve 1.6+ cross-sell ratio by policy 20
- Run first claims-advocacy case end-to-end with documented evidence
- First 10 Trustpilot + Google reviews live
04
Months 9–18 · Scale to renewals book
37–78- Hire CII-qualified account handler (FT or fractional)
- Grow live policies to 120–240 (£400k–£1.4m GWP)
- Hit 88–92% renewals retention by month 12
- Quarterly FCA file-review + SM&CR refresh
Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Workstation + dual monitors + FCA call recording
£2,100 → £3,500
CII qualification + Ltd + bank account
£900 → £3,600
FCA DA application + first-year levy (or AR fees)
£2,400 → £24,000
Acturis / Open GI setup + DocuSign
£600 → £1,800
Broker PI + ICO + cyber (yr 1)
£4,120 → £15,460
Branding + site + sector landing pages
£900 → £3,400
Marketing launch (Google + LinkedIn + accountant gifts)
£800 → £2,800
Typical total
£11,820 – £54,560
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
Acturis / Open GI + DocuSign + call recording
£220 → £640
Cyber risk assessment + Polaris (per active month)
£100 → £480
Insurance (amortised)
£340 → £1,280
FCA fees / AR network split (amortised)
£75 → £2,000
Google Ads + LinkedIn + sector events
£400 → £1,800
Account handler (per active month)
£0 → £3,800
Typical total
£1,135 – £10,000
Numbers that compound
How a insurance broker actually looks on a chart.
Illustrative planning ranges, not measured customer data. Toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Illustrative example for planning, not measured customer data.
First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 0
Confirm CII qualified + choose DA vs AR route
02Day 21
Broker PI + ICO + cyber live; FCA application submitted (or AR signed)
03Day 90
Acturis + DocuSign + call recording live; 4–6 insurer agencies secured
04Day 130
First sector-niche quotes live; first 3 referral pods signed
05Day 180
First 10 live policies (£20k–£60k GWP); first Trustpilot reviews
06Day 270
30+ live policies; first cross-sell + claims-advocacy case shipped
What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a insurance broker.
02Move
Suggested route
Lock the renewals calendar at 75 days pre-expiry, cross-sell cyber + PI on every commercial case, attach claims-advocacy as a paid add-on, then build a sector-specialism niche (tech / hospitality / construction).
03Move
Authorisation
Operate as FCA Directly Authorised general insurance intermediary or as an Appointed Representative under a network; document SM&CR responsibilities + ICOBS evidence on every quote.
04Move
Integrations
Acturis / Open GI / SSP Pure, Applied Epic, Stripe + GoCardless, Polaris, Lloyd's broker platform if applicable, DocuSign, Karbon and Xero.
05Move
Benchmarks
Retention rate, GWP per broker FTE and cross-sell ratio vs UK CII brokers in the same GWP band, refreshed monthly.
06Move
Advisors
Encore advisors who have built FCA-DA London broker firms (commercial + HNW), plus NAVIZIX AI for renewals + pipeline projection.
Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
Related playbooks
Owners of a insurance broker often run — or cross-sell with — these adjacent operations.
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