The verdict in three sentences
A 20-person insurance broker handling 4,500 policies across 30 insurers loses time and money in two blind spots: commission statement reconciliation and renewal follow-up. Off-the-shelf broker management systems, around £60 to £130 per user per month, cover policy administration well but stay weak on importing mixed-format statements and on evidencing FCA conduct requirements. A bespoke module plugged into your current system, or a full platform if you still run on spreadsheets, recovers missed commission and strengthens your position in an FCA review.
The book in numbers and what it costs to run
Our reference London broker is FCA authorised and places commercial lines, group health and protection, and personal lines for high net worth clients. Average premium is £2,600 and average commission 15%, about £1.75 million of commission income a year.
| Flow | 2026 volume | Manual time | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policies in force | 4,500 across 30 insurers | Ongoing updates | Stale client data |
| Commission statements | 30 a month, 30 formats | 3 h per statement, 90 h a month | Unpaid commission goes unnoticed |
| Annual renewals | 375 a month on average | Manual chase at 30 days | Client leaves before contact |
| Demands and needs statements | 1,100 a year | 40 min each | Incomplete evidence of suitability |
| Claims followed | 600 a year | Email chasers | Poor outcomes, client churn |
| Complaints | 25 to 40 a year | Spreadsheet log | DISP deadlines missed |
Under the Insurance Distribution Directive rules carried into ICOBS, plus the Consumer Duty, the broker must record demands and needs, provide product information and show that outcomes are fair. In a review, the firm must produce this evidence for a sample of files within days.
Off-the-shelf or bespoke: the comparison
| Criterion | Off-the-shelf broker system | Kolonell bespoke |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | £60 to £130 per user per month, so £14,400 to £31,200 a year for 20 users (2026 order of magnitude) | 2.5 to 15M+ FCFA (3,810 to 22,870+ EUR) depending on complexity |
| Maintenance | Included in subscription | 35,000, 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA per month (53, 114 or 183 EUR) |
| Statement import | Large insurers' formats, manual entry for the rest | Reader configured for your 30 formats, PDF included |
| Expected versus received commission | Partial | Automatic, with variance list per insurer |
| Demands and needs, Consumer Duty evidence | Standard forms | Journey built for your products, time-stamped and archived |
| Renewals | Due-date list | 60-day campaign with reminders and assigned tasks |
| Time to go live | 2 to 4 months with migration | 3 to 5 months |
The Kolonell grid applied to an insurance broker gives these reference points.
| Level | Kolonell budget | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| Simple application | 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) | Statement import and reconciliation against expected commission |
| Medium application | 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) | Reconciliation + 60-day renewal campaigns + per-insurer dashboard |
| Complex application | 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR) | Full book management, demands and needs journey, claims, client portal |
| Connectors to insurer portals, hosting | Quoted | Depends on available APIs |
The reconciliation module is usually the best starting point: it plugs into the existing system through exports, does not change account handlers' habits and shows a visible gain in the first quarter.
Mini case study
James Whitfield, managing director of a 20-person broker in the City of London, chooses a medium application: statement reconciliation, 60-day renewal campaigns and a per-insurer dashboard.
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The maths: reconciliation drops from 90 to 15 hours a month, 900 hours saved a year at a loaded cost of £40, £36,000. Variances detected amount to 1% of £1.75 million commission, £17,500 recovered from insurers. Chasing at 60 days lifts retention by 2 points: 4,500 × 2% = 90 policies kept at £390 average annual commission, £35,100. Annual gain: about £88,600. Against a project of 6,100 to 10,670 EUR and Standard maintenance at 114 EUR a month, the investment is covered in under two months.
FAQ
Can we keep our current broker system?
Yes, it is the most common scenario. The module reads book exports, imports the 30 statements and returns variances, without changing the habits of the 20 users.
How is suitability evidenced?
Each demands and needs record is time-stamped, linked to the policy and archived as a PDF with the recommendation. A sample of 50 files can be extracted in minutes for an FCA request.
Can PDF statements be read automatically?
Yes for the vast majority: each format is configured once, then read every month. Allow 1 to 2 days of setup per complex format, included in the project.
Is client data protected?
UK or EU hosting, role-based access, encryption and access logs, in line with UK GDPR. Health data from group protection schemes may call for additional controls, quoted separately.
What maintenance should we plan?
Kolonell maintenance costs 35,000, 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA a month (53, 114 or 183 EUR). Standard suits a reconciliation module, Premium a full platform.
Let's scope your project. Send us three sample commission statements, the size of your book and your current system: we will scope a commissions and renewals module deliverable in three to five months. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
