With over 150 years’ experience in the insurance market, PKF has built up a solid and comprehensive reputation as one of a small number of UK accounting firms with in depth expertise in supporting businesses, their owners and investors across the insurance industry.
Our varied client base includes Lloyd’s syndicates, insurance companies and mutual insurers, brokers and MGAs – including many businesses harnessing the power of technology to transform the insurance industry. We also act for many other clients involved in the insurance industry, including Lloyd’s corporate members.
Our purpose is to make our clients more successful, provide solutions to complex problems and enable them to achieve their goals.
Insurers
Insurance brokers
Consumer credit
Mortgage lenders
Wealth management
Asset management
Payments & e-money
Consumer understanding & digital journeys
Do customers genuinely understand charges, payment journeys and key risks, or are disclosures technically compliant but difficult to understand?¹
Fair value of payment services
Can firms demonstrate that fees, FX margins and charges represent fair value beyond simply being competitively priced?¹
Fraud, APP scams & customer protection
Are fraud controls, reimbursement processes and customer support keeping pace with evolving APP fraud and financial crime risks?¹
Vulnerable customers & financial inclusion
Are vulnerable customers identified early enough and provided with support that reflects their needs and circumstances?²
Safeguarding & customer money
Are safeguarding arrangements, governance and reconciliations sufficiently robust to protect customer funds?¹
Agents, distributors & embedded finance oversight
Where firms rely on agents, distributors or embedded-finance partners, is oversight proportionate to the conduct and regulatory risks involved?
Home & travel (and beyond) claims
Are claims handled promptly and fairly, with clear communications and appropriate oversight of outsourced or delegated claims?
Product value (premium finance, ancillary/add-ons & pure protect)
Can the firm present a clear, compelling argument that the costs of their products represent fair value vis a vis the benefits received (and if it can’t for the product in question, can it do so for other products)?
Customer journey friction
Has the firm deliberately designed customer journeys to remove unnecessary barriers while retaining appropriate friction where it helps customers make better decisions?
Delegated arrangements
Is the level of third-party oversight reflective of the extent of the reliance that the firm places on the third party to fulfill its regulatory obligations and deliver good outcomes to its customers.
Access & innovation
Can products reach customers who need cover while product design, pricing and innovation continues to protect them from foreseeable harms?
Do sales deliver customer understanding
Do customers genuinely understand the cover, material exclusions and limitations, rather than simply receiving technically compliant disclosures?
Product value (premium finance, ancillary/add-ons & pure protect)
Do firms understand the differences between their role as co-manufacturer or distributor for different products, and what this means for their approach to product governance and fair value assessments?
Distribution chain outcomes
Does the broker receive enough information to understand what happens to customers after placement, and to what extent does this impact their ability to complete fair value assessments and demonstrate that they are delivering good outcomes?
Remuneration & incentives
Could commissions or other commercial incentives distort product selection, distribution or value?
Delegated arrangements
Where the broker relies on ARs or delegated providers, is oversight sufficiently robust for the activity and customer risk involved?
Offers and cost of credit
Do promotional offers and digital journeys make the conditions, true cost and consequences of borrowing sufficiently clear?
Product value (high cost, credit cards and running account credit)
Can firms demonstrate that higher cost or running account credit delivers fair value across different customer types or different patterns of usage, rather than simply demonstrating that the headline price is competitive?
Access vs affordability
Are credit models responsibly widening access without lending to customers who cannot sustainably afford the product?
Financial difficulty
Are customers struggling with debt receiving timely and accessible support, appropriate forbearance and, where debt solutions are recommended, advice that is suitable and affordable for their individual circumstances?
Vulnerability support
Are firms identifying vulnerable customers early enough and adapting lending, collections and support to reflect their needs.
Data driven decisions
Is use of open-banking, bureau or alternative data governed and tested so that automated decisions remain fair and explainable?
Advice quality & suitability
Can firms evidence that advice reflects customers’ needs and circumstances and produces appropriate outcomes, rather than simply demonstrating a compliant process?
Access, flexibility & responsible lending
Are firms making appropriate use of greater regulatory flexibility to serve creditworthy customers who fall outside traditional lending models, while maintaining reasonable affordability assessments?
Later-life & interest-only lending
Are affordability, repayment strategies and customer understanding robust where borrowing extends into later life or capital repayment is deferred?
Financial difficulty
Are borrowers in financial difficulty identified early, able to access support without unnecessary barriers, and offered appropriate and sustainable forbearance that reflects their individual circumstances?
Second charges & debt consolidation
Are firms assessing whether debt consolidation is genuinely suitable for the customer, and whether it is being used as intended?
Incentives & conditional selling
Do commercial arrangements between estate agents and mortgage intermediaries create inappropriate incentives or restrict customer choice?
Ongoing fees vs service
Are clients paying ongoing advice or discretionary management charges receiving the service promised, and can the firm evidence its value?
Suitability & advice quality
Do recommendations reflect the client’s objectives, risk, capacity for loss and circumstances, rather than merely satisfying process requirements?
Model portfolios
Are governance, value, communications and outcomes sufficiently understood where clients are placed into standardised portfolio solutions?
Client vulnerability
Are firms identifying vulnerability consistently, keeping it under review as clients’ circumstances change and adapting their service where additional support is needed?
Financial crime & source of wealth
Do KYC, source-of-wealth, sanctions and ongoing monitoring arrangements reflect the actual financial-crime risks presented by the firm’s clients?
Growth & consolidation
Are governance, controls and client servicing keeping pace as firms acquire businesses, sell or buy/integrate client books and grow?
Consumer understanding & digital journeys
Do customers genuinely understand charges, payment journeys and key risks, or are disclosures technically compliant but difficult to understand?
Fair value of payment services
Can firms demonstrate that fees, FX margins and charges represent fair value beyond simply being competitively priced?¹
Fraud, APP scams & customer protection
Are fraud controls, reimbursement processes and customer support keeping pace with evolving APP fraud and financial crime risks?¹
Vulnerable customers & financial inclusion
Are vulnerable customers identified early enough and provided with support that reflects their needs and circumstances?²
Safeguarding & customer money
Are safeguarding arrangements, governance and reconciliations sufficiently robust to protect customer funds?¹
Agents, distributors & embedded finance oversight
Where firms rely on agents, distributors or embedded-finance partners, is oversight proportionate to the conduct and regulatory risks involved?
Private markets / private credit
Are valuation, conflicts, concentration, leverage and liquidity risks governed appropriately as private markets grow and retail access develops?
Legacy product value
Can firms evidence fair value in older unit-linked pensions and savings where layered charges or legacy product design may disadvantage customers?
Investor categorisation & high-risk investments
Are investor classifications and assessments robust enough to ensure higher-risk investments are reaching customers for whom they are appropriate?
Technology & sustainability
Are AI, tokenisation and sustainability claims supported by clear accountability, controls and evidence?
Third-party & outsourcing oversight
Are oversight arrangements proportionate to the reliance placed on administrators, custodians, technology providers and other outsourced services?
Not only do we provide specialist expertise in audit and assurance services to the insurance market, but our team also includes experts in corporate finance, regulatory compliance, and governance, risk and control. Our actuarial and IT assurance specialists are embedded within the insurance team. Our dedicated insurance tax experts provide a range of solutions to companies to manage risk across all relevant UK taxes.
We deliver sound advice to a market that has unique challenges and issues and our specialist team will give you what is vital – reliable information and practical knowledge to inform your business in the UK and internationally. Insurance is a global industry and our technical expertise, along with our detailed knowledge of global markets and association with PKF Global, will provide you with expert insights wherever you do business.
