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It was in 2015 that Larsen Howie came to life, and managing director Pete Willcocks (pictured) tells Insurance Business how he found himself setting up the specialist broker.
The Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, who also serves as East-Midlands regional chair at the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), shares what’s top of the firm’s agenda and what he considers tricky in being a new player.
What led you to found Larsen Howie?
After more than a decade at a competitor, which I really enjoyed and was well supported, they started the process of gearing up to sell and things started to change, as they always do. I left the business, and following a couple of days considering all my options I decided that I could do things better and my way, so set about going into competition with them. I had 12 months to wait out before launching, which ultimately took closer to 18 months to get everything in place, given the technology and insurer agreements, but since then we haven’t looked back and certainly don’t regret it one bit.
Amid the growing independent contractor and freelancer market in the UK, what are your goals or priorities for the business?
The protection of contractors from HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) and their poor understanding and application of IR35 – which let’s not forget HMRC invented back in 2000! Contractors form such a valuable role in the UK economy, especially as we move more towards fluid, short-term, and project work, but despite this the government somehow sees them purely as tax avoiders. The bad press given to contractors is out of order – no recognition is given for their sacrifice of holiday, maternity, and sick pay as well as job security, etc., just that they should pay the same tax as an employee. So standing up for them and assisting them in their battle against blanket and very often incorrect IR35 determinations, through consultancy and insurance, is top of our agenda.
In terms of challenges, what have been the major ones in your capacity as managing director?
Sourcing insurer capacity is always tricky, especially so when you are a new start-up. Insurance is all about people, and it was great that the insurers we currently work with took time to understand our plans and then wanted to be part of it, some of them taking a chance on us, which is very humbling, as ultimately without the capacity there is no business. Another challenge is getting the attention of third parties to get things done and signed off – being the small guy you are always at the back of the queue, so finding the balance between getting things done and being annoying is a tricky one.
As BIBA East-Midlands regional chair, what would you say are the biggest issues being faced by brokers?
Without doubt two issues stand above all others at present – Brexit and the sheer amount of compliance and regulation to adhere to. Brexit is now a very real issue, and a lot of brokers have put their head in the sand or expected insurers to sort things out for them, when in fact it’s a lot more onerous than that. Passporting is just one example of where a broker must be proactive, while other issues such as the requirement for green cards could soon become very real – are brokers aware of what could happen come March 2019?
As for compliance, it’s a constant gripe of nearly every broker that enough is enough in terms of the sheer volume of regulation to not only become familiar with, but to understand if it applies to them and then how to implement it. IDD (Insurance Distribution Directive) has just come in, and the Senior Managers and Certification Regime is coming into play in the very near future, both of which are no bad thing, but the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) doesn’t grasp the effect this has on time and resource for a lot of brokers and the effect it has on them.
If you were to leave insurance for another industry, which one and why?
My ego says a sports agent – being a keen sportsman and enjoying a good negotiation I like to think I’d be suited to it. However, another part of me wouldn’t mind escaping from the ‘constantly on’ world we now live in with emails and social media, so doing something completely different like filling in pot holes for a local authority and enjoying not taking my work home with me!
Name one thing your broking peers probably don’t know about you.
I often get asked where the name for the company comes from. People sometimes expect it to be a middle name or family-related, but the truth is far from that. At university in my first year, which was a wonderful time in itself, I was hooked on a football simulator game known then as Championship Manager. I’d spend literally days at a time on it. During one particular episode I had a very successful team, and the midfield pairing that led my team to all conquering glory was a certain Willie Howie from Partick Thistle and a Scandinavian called Tommy Svindall-Larsen. People either know of the game, its cult heroes, etc., and a conversation goes off on a tangent, or I get some very interesting/concerning looks!
