The textbook definition of what a job, workplace, workforce or a ‘typical’ working day looks like has evolved rapidly in the last few years – and it’s up to the insurance market to recognise this and adapt.
That was the thought process behind today’s launch of Mode Insurance by insurance industry advocate and iCAN co-founder Ajay Mistry (pictured) – a move which sees the market welcome a new broker looking to provide flexible cover for those self-employed, freelancing or running small businesses in the creative sector.
“In the post-pandemic world, the fact that you’ve got such a huge percentage of the workforce still working from home, just completely changes the risk profile of these businesses,” he said. “The fact is that now business can be won or lost over LinkedIn, And you can be working with someone on the other side of the world through Fiverr etc. as easily as you can with somebody across the street.
“Things have really evolved, and I think brokers need to be thinking creatively, especially in this smaller end of the market. Because you’re now dealing with people who are used to seeing efficiency in every other part of their lives and I don’t think insurance is or should be immune to that.”
Having spent some 14 years serving across several leading firms including Aviva, Aon and Brokerbility, Mistry is no stranger to the challenges faced by small firms in the creative sphere. He has long been involved in the affinities and schemes space, he said, and it’s because of this that he understands and appreciates the concerns facing smaller clients.
These concerns are becoming especially marked as consolidation continues and time-careful brokers turn their focus and attention to larger clients. He’s seen the big gap that’s emerging in the SME schemes space, he said, and he believes there’s a real opportunity for Mode Insurance to do things differently by investing the right levels of marketing expertise and technical insurance expertise into this segment.
A business like Mode Insurance is a sign that innovation and entrepreneurship in insurance broking are still thriving today. Identifying the market the business is looking to target, he noted that it’s aimed at freelancers and small businesses in the creative industries – at those businesses which, all too often, fly under the radar.
“The way I like to describe it is that, when we watch a TV show, our client base is basically everyone listed after the end credits,” he said. “They are a massively underserved market because you’ve got the big boys - who used to be very small back in the day – who used to play with them but as they’ve grown bigger, they naturally have less and less time for the smaller clients.
“This is a good time to innovate in this space. This is a good time to be more niche. There are jobs now that didn’t even exist five years ago. Working in this space in a previous role, we were focusing on the traditional roles; the photographers and makeup artists. But now there are podcasters and YouTubers and all these new influencers that just didn’t exist before. And they all need insurance. So, we’re opening ourselves up to the new ways of working and the new people coming through.”
There’s an opportunity here to really change the way insurance is viewed and purchased, he said, and to evolve the product beyond the “grudge purchase” reputation that it still carries today. The reality is that while businesses do have to buy insurance, they don’t actually have to buy it from somebody or someplace in particular. What Mistry has seen over the last two or three years, is that with increased access to information, people care a lot more about their suppliers than they used to.
“People now want to work with brands that they like,” he said. “If they hear something in the news that they don’t like, they’ll vote with their feet and turn the other way to start working with another brand instead. The ability to switch providers is easier than it’s probably ever been. And I don’t think the idea of having guaranteed lifetime clients is what it was either.”
It’s an exciting time for Mistry – who was named one of Insurance Business’s ‘Global 100 of 2024’ – and his team, and he highlighted how delighted they are to be working with some great partners, among them Movo Partnership Ltd, Gambit Insurance Solutions Ltd and Bspoke Insurance Group Ltd. It’s like being part of a “virtual power squad”, he said, and it’s been a great journey to see the business come together.
“We only decided to do this towards the back end of last year,” he said. “So, to have built an entire insurance brokerage within four and a half months, with a big digital platform, is pretty special… I have such a huge appreciation for the team I work with. For years now, they’ve come with me through different businesses. I think the reason we’ve been able to do this so efficiently is because we’ve got such a great dynamic. And now is our time to shine.”
