REALLY HONEST claims to be the first mainstream UK business insurance broker to refuse new clients that produce or sell animal-based products, along with what it describes as other “destructive” sectors.
The Malvern-based firm, previously called Fuelled, was founded in 2018 by Steven Darrah. This year it has undergone a redesign with its new name and positioning centred around a moral code of “radical” transparency, honesty and “purpose over profit”.
The aim as the company puts it to try and “overturn the conventions of commercial insurance”.
The commitment comes as Andy Shovel joins the business as a non-executive director and advisor. Shovel is the co-founder of THIS, a leading plant-based food brand that he set up together with Pete Sharman in 2019.
While Shovel has no prior experience in business insurance, REALLY HONEST’s founder said he was keen to get bring in an external individual to help it disrupt what he sees as “stale, largely amoral” insurance sector.
“Values that never cost you anything are just marketing. If a business makes or sells animal products, we’re not its broker. We would rather lose the premium than profit from something we believe causes harm. F&B is one of our biggest sectors, so this genuinely costs us revenue,” explains Darrah.
He continues: “Plant-based founders are pioneering alternatives to animal products. Their broker should not be earning commission from the industries they are trying to replace.”
Alongside its new anti-meat and dairy policy, the broker says it will also reject new businesses that produce or sell weapons or fossil fuels; keep animals in captivity for entertainment; are primarily involved in deforestation or destructive mining; or run gambling operations.
The pledge applies to new businesses at the point of quote. REALLY HONEST says it does not claim every existing client is policed by them but commits it not to knowingly taking on new clients in the excluded sectors.
The broker is also promising the following: no claims bonuses, to share the comms between broker and insurer during the process, and to not up a client’s price if its only claim in a year is under £25k.
REALLY HONEST says the upgrades are designed to reward businesses when nothing goes wrong, protect them when something does, and open up the part of insurance customers are usually never allowed to see.
