Gauntlet De-Authorisation Fast-Track FAQs

How can I downsize my insurance brokerage and work from home?

Many insurance brokers recognised they had cost burdens that were hard to justify during the pandemic.  The need for office accommodation is one.

Others realised the weighty HR onus that comes with being an employer and having to manage people, day-to-day, in their insurance brokerage, in keeping with all Government HR legislation.

Some learned that their insurance brokerage’s employees no longer wanted to work in an office and now prefer an option that allows them to work from home.

The good news is that cost centres such as office premises and wages can be removed or drastically reduced from the balance sheet of a currently directly authorised broker,  if a broker wishes to downsize and work from home as they change status and become a Gauntlet AR.

With the advanced Acturis IT systems that we provide to our Appointed Representatives, working from home is done with ease.  You could actually still retain staff and allow them to work remotely from their own homes, whilst you do the same, removing the cost of rent and utility bills from your books for good.  Of course, if you own your premises, you could rent those out or sell them.

Ready to change your insurance broker status?  Email Hello@GauntletEnterprise.com

How can my insurance brokerage compete in the insurance marketplace?

Many independent insurance brokerages now struggle to compete in the insurance marketplace.  You may be one.

But, you do not have to invest in swanky new IT systems or worry about how to place risks, if you de-authorise (stop being directly authorised by the FCA).  By becoming a Gauntlet Appointed Representative and trading under our FCA permissions, you can benefit from award-winning Acturis IT systems and an access to market that will enable you to place risks with 210 insurers and facilities.

You can also tap into our broker expertise and do not have to broke your own risks, unless you want to.

You can also place sizeable risks, as we do not cap your ambition, and you can benefit from our arrangement with Willis Towers Watson Networks, which not only enhances our access to market but also brings mentoring and business benefits.

Your insurance brokerage can become a competitive player in the insurance market, whether you serve local customers, clients within an insurance niche, or general commercial risks within a certain part of the country.Ready to compete on a more level insurance broking playing field? Email Hello@GauntletEnterprise.com

How will my earnings be affected by paying a commission split?

Whilst changing your status from a directly authorised broker to that of a Gauntlet appointed representative can rapidly reduce your costs, it can also fuel your earnings. The access to insurers and facilities that Gauntlet provides, means risks are usually far easier to place or premiums far more attractive to clients than they were previously, so you can typically write more business.

Additionally, Gauntlet will not put a cap on your risk placement, in terms of its size.  You can really ‘go for it’ with your income boosting, eyeing up sizeable risks that could build your income fast, due to the commission on them.

Even with a commission split, when working with us as ARs, we find brokers are notably better off than they were under previous arrangements.  It is better to have a share of a bigger pie than have the whole of a very small one.

You may have a window of opportunity – a number of years in which to maximise your earnings according to your career plan, or in which to get your retirement planning back on track.  GDF is the way to use that window, if you know that you cannot continue to go it alone and expect to achieve the financial change you need to engineer.

Why should I de-authorise when I could just sell my brokerage?

Firstly, many directly authorised brokers are not of a size to attract the eye of insurance consolidators, so selling up may well not be an option.

Secondly, if you do find a buyer, ask yourself whether they seem to be ready to pay over the odds for your brokerage and why.  The answer is that they can see the earning potential from your brokerage in a way in which you perhaps cannot.  They also know that the economy is likely to bounce back very strongly over the next few years.  They are businesspeople not charity funders.  They see money to be made.

The fact is that you could earn that money without selling at a price that may seem a good one but which could leave you wishing you had hung on for say five more years and really reaped the financial rewards yourself.  That, of course, probably cannot happen with your current arrangements in place.  With Gauntlet’s GDF option and the move to AR status, it could.

Consider this,  if you sell your insurance brokerage, what are you going to do with your life? Is it not intrinsically tied up with your clients, be that through golf, sporting dinners, race meetings or the like?  How will you spend your time, if no longer on the invitation list or able to issue the invites to clients?  By joining Gauntlet as an appointed representative, you can also retain all of the social life benefits that your life as an insurance broker delivers.

If I don’t sell my insurance brokerage now, will I miss the boat?

If you sell your insurance brokerage now, you could be making a big financial mistake and miss out on a post-pandemic boom.  Right now, that may mean nothing to you, as you currently lack the access to the insurance markets that could allow you to capitalise on a newly thriving economy.  But if you became a Gauntlet appointed representative (AR) and stopped clinging on to directly authorised status, that could change.  A boom-time period, with little or no costs within your business and much-boosted income, could be just what your future needs.

When you are  then finally ready to  sell, Gauntlet is ready to listen.  We’ve already bought the book of other ARs.  Why not yours?

Get in Touch