Westminster insurance was founded in 1948 as a mutual insurer serving the taxi and hackney carriage trade. It has extremely strong links with both the private and public hire industries and provides market-leading insurance products through its network of 45 tied agents which are located throughout the UK. In December 2014 Clegg Gifford, a prominent national Lloyd's broker purchased Westminster insurance. This exciting acquisition sees an increase in the breadth of facilitates and the products the Westminster agents can offer its clients and ties together two companies who operate from a branch office network now extended to include Romford, Guernsey, Edinburgh, Peterborough, Minories (City of London), Cannock and Wakefield, as well as through the 45 tied agents with offices across the UK.
The Clegg Gifford Group
Founding - Clegg Gifford (CG) was founded in 1968 as a general insurance broker, and later acquired status as a Lloyd's broker. This provided access to unique markets and schemes by which CG could place specialist risks for its clients.
Where we are today - Today CG maintains a broad spectrum of both personal and commercial insurance products and is a well-known broker in the UK Insurance Industry, with a national clientele and a heritage in the motor trade.
50 years - CG is celebrating its 50th anniversary and looks forward to the next fifty years of working with our customers and building great new relationships, as well as welcoming back long-standing clients who we have been proud to serve over the last half century.
www.cginsurance.com
Westminster Insurance
Westminster insurance is one of the best known and longest serving names in the taxi insurance market. Westminster is a trading name of Clegg Gifford & Co Ltd. and celebrates its 70th birthday this year. Westminster provides a long-standing appointed representative network with a national footprint throughout the UK. It's heritage is closely linked to taxi insurance placed locally for individual licensing authorities. Since CG purchased Westminster in 2014, this has increased the breadth of facilities and products Westminster offices can offer its clients.
www.mywestminsterinsurance.com
Our branch network
CG has branches across the UK and the branch office network includes offices in Aberdeen, Basildon, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guernsey, Minories (City of London), Romford and Wakefield.
Key Developments
In December 2014 CG purchased the Westminster insurance brand and book of business from Tradex Insurance Co Ltd. which included its nationwide network of 40 tied appointed representatives. Historically CG has enjoyed a strong wholesale identity – providing non-Lloyd's brokers with access to Lloyd's facilities, as well as being able to place business under its various binders. In December 2016, CG purchased the goodwill of the wholesale insurance arm (Tradex insurance services) from Tradex Insurance Co Ltd. This included nationwide relationships with 800 insurance brokers. The business was primarily motor trade, but included some fleet, family fleet, personality and commercial vehicle business.
Company Ownership
CG is a family owned company with Roy Clegg as the majority shareholder. There are common shareholders between Clegg Gifford and Tradex Insurance Co Ltd.
Common Majority Shareholder between Clegg Gifford & Tradex Insurance Company
Customers should note that for some motor products we may use Tradex Insurance Company Limited (Tradex). Tradex is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the FCA and PRA. Financial Services Register no. 202917. Tradex and Clegg Gifford have a common shareholding, with Roy Clegg owning the majority of shares in both companies. Any conflicts of interest that arise from this are dealt with within Clegg Gifford’s Conflicts of Interest policy and other associated documentation. Furthermore to ensure separation at a governance level, there are no common directors between either company, to maintain independence of both. We welcome any enquiries regarding this longstanding association between both companies. From December 2019 Clegg Gifford took a direct stake in Tradex and is now a minority shareholder in the company owning 15% of Tradex Insurance (Holdings) Ltd, which owns Tradex Insurance Company Ltd.
Tradex Insurance Co. Ltd.
Tradex operates a binding (delegated) authority with Clegg Gifford which allows CG to underwrite under Tradex's control, administer policies, handle complaints and manage claims. CG are remunerated via commission from Tradex from risks bound on their behalf and also fees levied for the placement and administration of risks.
Remuneration Basis
CG are remunerated via commission on the products it sells on behalf of insurers. We may also apply fees on administrative work carried out on your policy. In addition to this, based on performance (usually via posted loss ratios that are calculated via actuarial analysis after a period of time - usually 3 years) CG has some agreements where performance affects the total commission payable - which can either increase the commission payable from a carrier or decrease what CG earns based on posted loss ratio on the account. The remuneration level is usually in line with the actions carried out on behalf of the insurer. The greater the level of work required, e.g. accounts, marketing and claims handling and delegated actions via binding authority - usually the greater the commission received. This can range from 10% on some motor products to 35% on some specialist commercial lines for the London and Lloyds market.
Clegg Gifford is focused to be:
- A well respected independent broker with sustainable capacity, who work alongside insurers to service niche customer requirements in as flexible manner as possible. We want to provide solutions for both insurers seeking a sustainable, professional and knowledgeable broking distribution partner and also onwards access to customers who require bespoke policies to fit their unique circumstances.
- A company of dedicated individuals who are long-serving and undertake their work; diligently, productively and correctly.
- A company that grows and nurtures talent and provides a good livelihood for its employees with a good path to progression.
- A company that has a growth mind-set and is agile enough to pursue opportunities, work hard, fast and smart to become one of the top 50 largest brokers in the country.
From humble beginnings...
