New Insurer Start-up Unit

The New Insurer Start-up Unit provides information and support for those thinking of setting up a new insurer in the UK.

This page was produced before the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The UK has now entered into a transition period, due to end on 31 December 2020, during which EU law will continue to apply. We will update this page at a later date, as appropriate, to reflect the legal and regulatory framework applicable at the end of the transition period.

Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority

Overview

The New Insurer Start-up Unit (NISU) is a joint initiative from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Any firm that wants to be an insurer (which includes the activities of effecting contracts of insurance or carrying out contracts of insurance) must be authorised to do this by the PRA. The PRA will only agree to authorise a firm if the FCA is also content for it to be authorised.

Firms that are EEA banks, and that are seeking authorisation from the PRA as a third country branch, should refer to the dedicated webpages for information on the authorisation of EEA banks and insurers and the temporary permissions regime.
 

Download our guide to becoming an insurer in the UK for everything you need to know about starting a new insurer, from the pre-application phase to life after authorisation:

PDFNew Insurer Start-up Unit guide

The NISU is part of the regulators’ ongoing work to improve the authorisation process for prospective new insurers in the UK. We want the process, information and materials to be helpful for potential applicants so that we can have an effective and efficient way of working together, and lead to an improved quality of application when the time comes. It’s really important that we hear from you, the users of the NISU, about what is working well and what we can improve.

As our consideration of further developments relating to the authorisation of new insurers continues, we are also interested to hear views on perceived barriers to entry in the insurance industry and possible measures to address them. Please email NewInsurerStartupUnit@bankofengland.co.uk with your feedback and input.

Thinking about becoming a new insurer?

Early stages

The Early Stages section goes through the basics, including whether setting up an insurer is the right thing for you, and what the alternatives might be.

PDFThinking about becoming a new insurer?

What do you need to do to get started?

Pre-application

If you decide that you want to become an insurer, you may find the Pre-application section helpful. It includes details of the pre-application meetings which, in our experience, have been helpful to both sides as we share our expectations and you can work out what this means for you and your resources. 

PDFWhat do you need to do to get started?

What happens when you apply to become an insurer?

Application

You can look ahead to find out what happens when you apply to become a new insurer in the Application section. The application section includes information about what we will assess, and how long it could take to give you a decision.

PDFWhat happens when you apply to become a new insurer?

What's life like as a new insurer in the United Kingdom?

After authorisation

When you’re fully authorised, you’ll want to know more about what regulatory life is like as a new insurer in the United Kingdom. What can you expect in the early days of being supervised, and in subsequent years? Answers to these, and other questions, are set out in the After authorisation section.

PDFWhat's life like as a new insurer in the UK?

  • You can find all the forms you need to complete on the New firm authorisations page.

    Before you submit your application, you should review it to check you have provided adequate responses to all questions and enclosed any supporting documents. We also strongly recommend that you address all the issues and actions we have identified with you during the pre-application stage before you submit your application.

    It is important to always be open and honest with us as the success of your application will be affected if we find you have deliberately withheld information or provided false or incomplete facts. You should also provide us with any other information that you think we should be aware of. If you are in doubt about anything, then please disclose it. If the information you provide is inaccurate, or incomplete, this will delay your application.

     

Contact us

If you have any queries about becoming a new insurer email us: NewInsurerStartupUnit@bankofengland.co.uk (we are available on email from 9am - 5pm) or call 020 3461 8100 (10am - 12noon).

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This page was last updated 31 January 2020
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