“Every week some policy is up for renewal, and the only thing chasing it is me.”
AI for insurance brokers, from renewals to claims. Home when the office closes.
Renewals, information requests and claims updates move along on a system, so the brokerage keeps working after you've gone home.
I'm Daniel Andrews. I run a law firm, and I design and build its systems myself. I help small independent brokerages in Eastbourne, Lewes and beyond get the routine work off their desks. If we've met through BNI, this is the longer version of what I'd tell you over coffee.
A typical evening, after a day with clients
- 6pmPulling next month's renewalsPolicy by policy, out of the broker system
- 7pmChasing a contractor's figuresTurnover and wage roll, asked for twice already
- 8pmComparing quotes for a small fleetThe same risk details, keyed into three insurers' portals
- 9pmA client wanting news on a claimThe loss adjuster hasn't replied since Tuesday
- 11pmBed, with three renewals due on FridayTwo clients still haven't confirmed their details
Renewal season never really ends
Every policy comes round again, and each renewal needs chasing.
“My commercial clients send their figures on the third reminder, never the first.”
“The last week of every month, the laptop comes out after bedtime stories.”
“A renewal I don't reach in time is a client, and the commission, lost to a comparison site.”
“If the FCA asked how I checked this renewal was still fair value, I'd be searching my inbox.”
A book of business that only you can run is still a job
You went independent to look after clients your way. Then the book grew. Now the day goes on clients and insurers, and the evening on renewals, mid-term changes and claims.
If every policy needs you personally, the brokerage can only grow through longer hours, and a fortnight away lets renewals slip. You've built a job, not a business.
Let's change that. The approach is the one that worked in my own firm: see where the time goes, put the repeat work on systems, and spend the hours you win back on the business. In a brokerage, renewals, information requests and claims updates run on a system, and how your office handles each one is written down, so an account handler could take it on. It's the thinking behind how I help professional firms run as businesses.
What should AI for insurance brokers actually do?
It should take the routine work around your advice. That means preparing renewals from your broker system, asking commercial clients for their information and chasing until it arrives, drafting call notes and quote summaries, and keeping clients updated on claims. It shouldn't choose cover, or send anything to a client, without a broker checking it first.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| New enquiries | Picked up between calls, sometimes the next day. | Logged, acknowledged and sent a short questionnaire about the risk. |
| Quote comparison | Keyed into several insurers' portals, then compared by eye. | Details captured once, and a side-by-side summary drafted for you to check. |
| Commercial information requests | Turnover and claims history chased by email, again and again. | A checklist per policy type, a secure upload link, and reminders that stop once it's in. |
| Renewals | Worked from a list in the final fortnight. | Tasks created weeks ahead from the broker system, with the invitation drafted. |
| Claims | Clients ring for news, so you ring the insurer. | A diary date on every open claim, and a regular client update even when nothing has moved. |
| Call notes and demands and needs | Written up from memory after hours. | A draft note from the call, ready for you to correct and file. |
What do the FCA's rules say about demands and needs, renewals and claims?
Before an insurance contract is concluded, a broker must specify the customer's demands and needs from information the customer provides, and give them a statement of those demands and needs. For consumers' home and motor insurance, the renewal price must not be higher than the equivalent new business price.
The Consumer Duty came into force for open products on 31 July 2023 and for closed products on 31 July 2024. The FCA says it applies to every firm with a key role in delivering retail customer outcomes, even without a direct customer relationship.
Under the Insurance Act 2015, the insured under a non-consumer contract must make a fair presentation of the risk before the contract is entered into. A consumer's duty, under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, is to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation. That's one reason commercial renewals, unlike personal lines, arrive with long lists of questions.
On claims, insurers must handle them promptly and fairly and give appropriate information on progress, under ICOBS 8.1. FCA guidance says a broker without authority to deal with a claim should pass the notification on promptly, or tell the policyholder straight away.
- A draft demands and needs statement from your call notes, for you to check before it goes.
- Every renewal invitation and chaser logged with its date, so the file shows what went out and when.
AI tools, client data and your network
If you're an appointed representative, your principal is responsible for making sure you comply with FCA rules. In the FCA's review of principals, good practice included checking ARs' data protection, GDPR compliance and IT security. So your network may decide which systems and AI tools you use, and we'd work around them. My pages for mortgage brokers and financial advisers cover their side.
On AI itself, the FCA says it doesn't plan to add AI-specific regulations, and relies on the rules it already has, including the Consumer Duty. The ICO's guidance on how UK GDPR applies to AI is under revision because of the Data (Use and Access) Act.
Please note: I've drawn this from official FCA, ICO and legislation.gov.uk pages. Treat it as background reading, never as legal, regulatory or compliance advice, and check your own firm's position with your compliance adviser, network or principal, or professional body.
Tell me which part of the renewal cycle you dread most. That's usually where I'd start.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for an insurance broker
Renewals first, then the chasing that surrounds them.
A renewal calendar you trust
Every renewal date comes out of your broker system into one weekly list, with tasks starting well before each one.
Information requests that chase themselves
Commercial clients get a checklist for their policy type and an upload link. Polite reminders stop when the figures arrive.
Claims updates on a rhythm
Each open claim gets a follow-up date with the insurer, and the client hears from you before they need to ring.
Call notes drafted for you
AI drafts the file note and a demands and needs summary from the call. You correct it before it's filed.
How do I choose AI tools for insurance brokers?
Start with one job, not a list of tools. Pick a task such as renewal chasing. Then look for something that works with your broker management system, or your network's, comes with a proper data processing agreement, and lets you check every message before it reaches a client or an insurer.
- Connects to your broker management system, or at least exports from it cleanly.
- Drafts rather than sends: nothing reaches a client or insurer until you've checked it.
- Offers a data processing agreement, and lets you take your data with you if you leave.
As examples of insurance broker software in the UK, not recommendations, Acturis, Applied Systems and Open GI all sell systems to UK brokers. I don't sell software, and none of these firms pays me.
Why a law firm Managing Partner?
I've worked those evenings myself. For years I put in 60 to 70 hours a week, often until 2am, sure that more hours were the answer. They weren't: putting the firm on systems was, and it's now four to five times the size it was when I started. Being a dad of two and a football coach, I'd rather nobody's evenings went on admin.
A law firm and a brokerage share a lot: deadlines that can't slip, a regulator, and files that must show what happened. As Managing Partner of a two-office law firm in East Sussex, I look after around 30 people, and I'm a practising solicitor. The consultancy itself gives no legal advice and isn't regulated by the SRA.
I built it in my own firm first. When a process at the firm drags, I build the fix, such as a live dashboard fed by our case management system. This consultancy is new, and no broker has been a client yet. There's more about my background and the firm I run.
Other professions I help
Accountants and bookkeepers
Records chased on a timetable, MTD quarters on one screen and new clients onboarded in one link, so deadline season stops taking your evenings.
For accountants and bookkeepersMortgagesMortgage brokers
Fact-finds drafted, payslips and bank statements chased, and every case tracked from application to completion without the evening phone calls.
For mortgage brokersFinancial adviceFinancial advisers
Meeting notes and suitability report drafts ready to check, annual reviews booked in good time, and cash flow data in before the meeting.
For financial advisersPropertyEstate and letting agents
Offers put in writing, chains chased, vendor updates drafted and lettings dates tracked, so the agency keeps moving after the last viewing.
For estate and letting agentsDesign and surveyArchitects and surveyors
Fee proposals, revision registers, planning dates and site-photo reports handled by systems you check, so the practice isn't run from the kitchen table.
For architects and surveyorsSafetyHealth and safety consultants
Site notes turned into draft reports, client actions chased and review dates booked, while every assessment still waits for your signature.
For health and safety consultantsQuestions from insurance brokers
Is AI for commercial insurance brokers different from personal lines?
Commercial work often gains more, because each renewal needs more information. AI can draft the request list for a policy type and summarise the replies. Judging and presenting the risk stays with you.
Can AI compare insurance quotes for me?
It can set quotes side by side and flag differences in cover and exclusions, as a draft. It can also misread a wording, so a broker checks the comparison before anything is recommended.
We're an appointed representative. Where do we start?
With your principal. Ask which systems you must use and what you may connect to them. There's usually room around the edges, such as reminders and client updates.
Can I record client calls so AI writes the notes?
Carefully. Under the ICO's right-to-be-informed guidance, clients must hear about a new use of their data, such as AI notes, before it starts. Use a business tool with a data processing agreement, and check your firm's own policy.
Your evenings back, with the renewals still moving
Book a free 30-minute call. Talk me through one renewal, start to finish, and I'll point out the steps a system could carry. No jargon and no hard sell.