What the FCA expects a broker to do when a policyholder rings to report a claim

This piece covers administrative call handling for insurance brokers: claim notifications, renewals, questions and messages. It is not insurance advice, and nothing in it says whether anything is covered. The FCA text quoted below is guidance for the firm to interpret with its own compliance adviser.

What ICOBS 8.3.4G says about a claim notification

The Financial Conduct Authority's ICOBS 8.3.4G is guidance, not a rule. It says a firm that does not have authority to deal with a claim "should forward any claim notification to the insurance undertaking promptly, or inform the policyholder immediately that it cannot deal with the notification." The section it sits in applies, in the FCA's words, to "an insurance intermediary, and to an insurer handling a claim on another insurance undertaking's policy." So for a broker without claims handling authority, the expected choice is to forward the notification promptly or tell the policyholder straight away that it cannot deal with it.

The prompt and fair claims rule belongs to the insurer

The Financial Conduct Authority's ICOBS 8.1.1R is a separate rule, and it is written for insurers, not for the broker. It states that "An insurer must: (1) handle claims promptly and fairly; (2) provide reasonable guidance to help a policyholder make a claim and appropriate information on its progress; (3) not unreasonably reject a claim (including by terminating or avoiding a policy); and (4) settle claims promptly once settlement terms are agreed." That is the insurer's duty, not the broker's. Nothing here says what a particular broker's claims handling authority is.

The scale of the sector

The Financial Conduct Authority's retail intermediary market data for 2025 reports revenue from non-investment insurance distribution in 2025 of £27.7 billion. The Office for National Statistics counts 3,930 UK enterprises under SIC 2007 code 66.22, "Activities of insurance agents and brokers". Together they describe the size of the sector a broker's phone line sits inside.

What actually changes with an AI receptionist

Ringar AI answers the call, takes the caller's name, number and what happened, and records the claim notification for your team. It never says whether anything is covered, it never tells the caller the insurer has been told, and it never sends the notification to the insurer itself. Where a calendar is connected it can book; otherwise it records a callback request with who to ring, what about and when suits. What the team does with the notification, and how quickly it is forwarded, remains the firm's own duty. The assistant only makes sure the details are captured accurately.

A worked example, not a claim about your brokerage

A policyholder rings a broker the morning after a kitchen water leak and says they need to make a claim. The assistant takes their name, number, the policy type as they describe it, what happened in their own words and when. It tells the caller plainly that it has written this down and passed it to the team, and that it has not sent it to the insurer. If the firm has given it the insurer's own claims line, it gives that number. The team sees the notification with the details and forwards it. Whether and how quickly the firm forwards it is the firm's own duty; the assistant only makes sure the details are captured accurately. This is an invented example, not a claim about any particular brokerage.