Business insurance software selection for SME brokers

What to take away

On workflow, evidence, security and the regulated boundary, Acturis and Open GI are the likely shortlist for a UK small-business commercial broker. Applied Epic suits larger brokers, Insly suits cloud-first brokers and MGAs, Duck Creek is built for insurers.
Price licence, implementation, integration, training and exit as one five-year figure. Per-broker, per-user and enterprise licence models do not compare line by line.
Any module that distributes cover, issues a financial promotion or recommends a product needs a perimeter review before go-live.
Score functional fit, evidence, security, resilience, cost and exit separately, with minimum standards a strong feature score cannot offset.
Do not migrate the only policy record until exports, restoration and manual fallback pass on redacted data.

The five platforms side by side

Shortlist on the controlled task, not the product label. Begin by comparing insurance software suppliers against one renewal, one mid-term adjustment and one claim.

Built for

Acturis: UK commercial brokers
Open GI: Brokers and insurers
Applied Epic: Larger brokers
Insly: Cloud-first brokers and MGAs
Duck Creek: Insurers

Workflow strength

Acturis: Broker management, insurer e-trading, renewals
Open GI: Modular e-trading, schemes, policy administration
Applied Epic: Account handling, certificates, claims
Insly: Product builder, quoting, binding
Duck Creek: Core policy, billing and claims at carrier scale

Evidence held

Acturis: Policy, quote and change history in one record
Open GI: Scheme rules and rating in module configuration
Applied Epic: Certificate and claims records with workflow history
Insly: Digital proposal and binding records
Duck Creek: Rating and policy records at volume

Security to test

Acturis: Certification scope, tenant separation, restore tests
Open GI: Hosted or on-premise by module
Applied Epic: Enterprise hosting, contract and testing evidence
Insly: Sub-processor list, deletion terms, cloud exit
Duck Creek: Assurance scope set by the carrier

Boundary

Acturis: Distribution sits inside your own FCA permissions
Open GI: Scheme promotion stays with your firm
Applied Epic: Group-level permissions usually required
Insly: Delegated authority agreed with the insurer
Duck Creek: Carrier authorisation, not broker permissions

Pricing model

Acturis: Per-broker quote, scaled by users and modules
Open GI: Module licences plus user and scheme fees
Applied Epic: Enterprise licence plus implementation
Insly: Modular per-user subscription
Duck Creek: Enterprise SaaS licence and services

No public price list exists for any of the five, so replace each column with evidence you have seen.

Platforms by primary fit

Acturis

Primary user: UK commercial brokers
Core strength: E-trading, renewals
Pricing model: Per broker

Open GI

Primary user: Brokers and insurers
Core strength: Modular admin
Pricing model: Modular

Applied Epic

Primary user: Larger brokers
Core strength: Global accounts
Pricing model: Enterprise

Insly

Primary user: Brokers and MGAs
Core strength: Cloud modular
Pricing model: Per user

How to compare platform quotations

There are no public price lists for the five platforms in this comparison. Request bespoke quotes, then compare the cost rows rather than relying on a headline figure.

Ask Acturis and Open GI for a per-broker quotation split by licence, e-trading connection, scheme and user count, with the uplift formula in writing.
Ask Applied Epic and Duck Creek for enterprise licence, implementation days, annual support percentage and exit services.
Ask Insly for the per-user subscription and any cap on products, transactions or storage.

Add integration, migration, training, security review and data extraction to every total. A low licence with heavy configuration is not the cheaper platform.

Which platform fits which buyer

A small broker writing shop, salon, cafe and tradesman coverActuris or Open GI, decided by the insurer connections you already use.
A broker handling complex certificates and claims across several offices: Applied Epic, if the group will standardise on one system.
A cloud-first broker or an MGA binding delegated schemesInsly, subject to the insurer's delegated authority terms.
An insurer replacing core policy administrationDuck Creek, judged on migration and rating control.

Workflow, evidence and security tests

Run tests with redacted or synthetic records, never live submissions built on invented data. Tie each one to a named exposure in your exposure register so the result means something commercially.

Process a renewal, then add a second premises mid-term.
Post a correction after approval and confirm the audit trail survives.
Force a failed integration and trace the duplicate record.
Export a full policy file and open it without vendor software.
Confirm the restore point, then restore it.

The NCSC's choosing a cloud provider guidance is the right frame. Confidence should reflect the harm from leakage, corruption or outage, so a document store and a live quotation engine need different assurance.

Ask for ISO/IEC 27001 certificates with their scope, SOC 2 Type II reports where available, Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certificates where held, and penetration-test summaries. Check that each item covers the product and service you are buying, and review its date, exclusions and any relevant remediation; a certification alone is not an assurance decision.

The regulated boundary and exit terms

Before go-live, check whether a software function amounts to insurance distribution, communicates a financial promotion or supports a regulated recommendation; the activity and firm's role determine the perimeter. For firms in scope, check the FCA Handbook's SYSC 8 (outsourcing arrangements) and SYSC 15A (operational resilience), alongside COBS 4 (financial promotions) and PERG perimeter guidance, including PERG 5 on insurance distribution. The FCA's outsourcing and operational resilience page ties third-party use to continuing responsibility and points to reporting requirements.

Record the purpose and the lawful basis for intake data before any proposal field goes live. If health or other special category data is captured, identify both an Article 6 lawful basis and an applicable condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR, and check whether further Data Protection Act 2018 requirements apply. The ICO's guide to lawful basis sets out how to document that choice.

Before signature, fix export formats, export frequency, service levels, price-uplift caps, deletion after termination and the evidence-expiry schedule.

Regulatory perimeter review

Does the tool involve distribution, financial promotions or advice?

Yes

Regulatory perimeter review required

Proceed with exclusions documented

Example: a five-person broker moving off spreadsheets

A five-person broker writing combined shop and salon policies scores Acturis and Open GI on the same renewal task, then tests Insly for one small delegated scheme. Applied Epic and Duck Creek leave the shortlist, because neither the certificate volume nor the carrier role fits. The winner reconstructs a renewal fastest.

Common questions

Which of the five should a UK small-business broker choose?

Acturis or Open GI for broker workflow and insurer connections. Insly fits only if you want cloud-first delivery and accept modular per-user pricing.

Is the cheapest licence the cheapest platform?

Rarely. Configuration, integration and migration usually outweigh the licence difference, so compare five-year totals with exit costs included.

How do I test workflow and security before signing?

Run the checklist tasks on redacted data. Then ask for certification scope, restore tests and the sub-processor list covering the exact service you are buying.