Phone Solutions for Insurance Brokers
"I TOLD YOU THE WAREHOUSE
NEEDED FLOOD COVER."
Broking is a phone business - demands and needs taken down, cover explained, mid-term adjustments agreed in a two-minute call. Then a claim is declined, and the whole relationship comes down to what the client asked for and what you placed. As they remember it.
ONSIM puts recorded numbers on every handset, natively ON-A-SIM - the brokerage number, each broker's existing mobile number ported in, or both side by side. Every call on those numbers carries optional network-level recording and transcription behind it, a complete log of every call answered or not, and one dashboard managing the lot.
Built and priced for small brokerages, not for the recording estates of composite insurers.
The placing file should include the phone calls
Tailored Phone Solutions for Insurance Brokers
Key Features Built for Broking:
A brokerage phone system on the mobiles your team already carries. No apps, no VoIP dependency - the firm's number on every call, and a record of what the client asked for when a claim turns into a dispute.
The Brokerage Number on Every Handset
Brokers call clients, insurers and loss adjusters from their own mobiles with the firm's landline number as caller ID - and callbacks ring the mobile directly. One identity for the brokerage, personal numbers kept private. See the Landline SIM.
Demands and Needs, On the Record
On-network call recording (an optional paid add-on) captures calls at network level - no apps, nothing to press. The fact-find where the client described the risk, and the call where cover was explained, exist as recordings rather than recollections.
Mid-Term Adjustments Captured
A vehicle added, a sum insured changed, an address updated - MTAs happen in quick phone calls that rarely make it to the file in full. Network-level recording captures them automatically, including the instruction and the confirmation.
When a Claim Becomes a Dispute
Declined claims turn into "what did the client ask for and what did the broker place" arguments - sometimes with the client, sometimes with the insurer, sometimes at the Ombudsman. A recording of the original conversation is evidence for whichever way the truth points.
Transcripts for the Placing File
AI Insights (optional, opt-in add-on) transcribes recorded calls and makes them searchable - a written record of every demands-and-needs discussion, ready for your broking system via our API.
Built for Small Brokerages
Most SMB recording customers pay £20/user/month + VAT all-in - SIM, UK minutes and SMS, recording, archival and search included. Self-serve, works from one user. See business call recording for the full breakdown.
"The claim is declined. Now everyone asks what the client told the broker."
The hardest disputes in broking are not about the policy wording - they are about the conversation before it. The client says they described the flat roof, the flood history, the second business use; the broker's file holds a demands-and-needs statement and whatever notes survived a busy renewal season. When the claim is declined, the client's next question is whether the broker placed what was asked for, and the insurer's next question is what the broker was actually told. Everything hangs on a phone call nobody can replay.
To be clear about the rules: ICOBS does not, in general, require insurance brokers to record calls - it sets few detailed record-keeping rules at all, leaving firms to decide what records they need under the FCA's high-level record-keeping requirements and their own defence needs. Our free call recording requirement checker covers who is and is not caught by taping rules. But a broker must still be able to show that the policy proposed was consistent with the customer's demands and needs - and the phone call is where those demands and needs were expressed. A recording is that evidence in its original form.
Recording used to be an enterprise purchase - the kind of estate a composite insurer runs, not a three-person brokerage. ONSIM records at network level on a SIM: nothing installed on the handset, nothing for a busy account exec to forget, with most SMB customers paying £20/user/month + VAT all-in for SIM, UK minutes and SMS, recording, secure archival and search. Recordings are encrypted and stored in highly secure data centres, on the same infrastructure that serves FCA-regulated firms with full taping obligations. Add AI Insights (optional, opt-in) and every recorded call has a searchable transcript for the placing file, available to your broking system via our API.
None of this is legal, regulatory or insurance advice, and no phone system makes a firm compliant by itself - whether and how you record, notify and retain is for your compliance arrangements and your own advisers. What ONSIM provides is the record: what the client asked for, when you called, and what was agreed. Our free retention calculator and the rest of our compliance tools are a starting point for that review, not a substitute for it.
What our customers say.
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Mubasher
Small business owner
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Still have doubts?
Can you record the mobile numbers our brokers already use?
Yes. You can port the mobile numbers your team already uses to ONSIM - the same process as switching mobile networks. Clients keep dialling the same number, staff keep the same native handset experience, and every call and SMS on that ported number is then recorded at network level and managed in the same dashboard as the rest of the firm. Ported mobiles and landline identities sit side by side on the same system, so you can run both.
Do insurance brokers have to record calls?
In general, no - and we won't dress it up. ICOBS sets few detailed record-keeping rules, and the FCA taping rule (SYSC 10A) is aimed at investment business rather than general insurance distribution; insurance-based investment products can bring extra requirements. What firms must be able to do is evidence compliance - including that the policy proposed matched the customer's demands and needs. Try our call recording requirement checker, and confirm your own position with your compliance adviser - this is not legal or regulatory advice.
Why record calls if ICOBS does not require it?
Because the demands-and-needs conversation is where disputes are born. When a claim is declined, the question becomes what the client asked for and what the broker was told about the risk - and that exchange happened by phone, often years earlier. A recording settles it in the fairest possible way: with the conversation itself, whichever side it favours.
Can brokers call clients from their mobiles showing the brokerage's number?
Yes. With a Landline SIM, the brokerage's landline number is native on the SIM in each handset - outbound calls display the firm's number and inbound calls ring the mobile directly. No app, no VoIP, no divert: it works like a normal mobile call because it is one. Personal numbers stay private.
How does the recording work - can staff forget to turn it on?
No. Recording happens on the network, not the handset - if recording is enabled for a user, every call on the firm number is captured automatically, including the thirty-second MTA call taken in the car park. It is an optional paid add-on and is off by default. See business call recording for how network-level recording compares with apps.
What does call recording cost for a small brokerage?
Most SMB customers pay £20/user/month + VAT - a complete solution covering the SIM or eSIM, UK minutes and SMS, the recording, secure archival, and search & replay via the ONSIM dashboard. Nothing separately licensed, and it works from a single user, so a small brokerage is not priced out of insurer-grade evidence. Full details on the business call recording page.
Are mid-term adjustments really worth recording?
MTAs are short, frequent and disproportionately dangerous - a vehicle added, a tenant change mentioned, a sum insured "roughly doubled" in passing. If the instruction never reaches the insurer correctly, the gap surfaces at claim time. Because ONSIM records at network level, every MTA call is captured automatically without anyone deciding it was important enough to document.
How long should a brokerage keep call recordings?
There is no single ICOBS answer - firms typically align retention with policy lifecycles, claims-notification tails and limitation periods, and UK GDPR requires a defined retention period either way. Our free call recording retention calculator works through the common UK regimes with cited references; treat it as a starting point for your compliance review, not a substitute for it.
Do we need to tell clients their calls are recorded?
If you enable recording you are responsible for using it lawfully. In practice UK firms typically notify - a line in the terms of business agreement, or an announcement on inbound calls. How you meet your obligations is one for your compliance arrangements; recording on ONSIM is opt-in and off by default.
Can transcripts feed our broking system?
Yes. AI Insights (an optional, opt-in paid add-on) transcribes recorded calls and makes them searchable - ask "when did the client mention the flat roof?" and find the call. Recordings, transcripts and call logs are available over our API so they can be filed against the client record.
We are a three-person brokerage - how do inbound calls get handled?
A hunt group rings the right people when the office number is called - everyone at once, or in sequence. Hold, transfer, extensions and voicemail are included on the base plan; IVR menus and call queues are available as paid add-ons. One hunt group is included on accounts with 2+ users, and the logs show every enquiry and renewal call that rang, answered or not.
Flexible pricing plans
Landline SIM
The brokerage number on every handset
- UNLIMITED UK Calls & SMS**
- Inbound & outbound calls show your landline number
- Standard or eSIM
- Advanced Features
- UK Data Bundles (2GB,4GB,10GB,20GB,40GB @ £2,£4,£6,£8,£10)
- Pick new landline or use existing
- Cancel any time
- Trusted by 7,500+ UK businesses
Call & SMS Recording
What most SMB recording customers pay - all-in
- SIM or eSIM per user
- UK minutes and SMS
- Inbound & outbound call recording at network level
- SMS recording (both directions)
- Secure archival, retained per your policy
- Search & replay via the ONSIM dashboard
- Number porting included
- UK-based support
Want to speak to our sales team? Call us now on +443338804008
All prices shown are ex VAT**UK Mins are outbound calls to major (O2, Vodafone, EE and Three) UK mobiles (07), landlines (starting 01, 02, 03) and freephone numbers (0800, 0808). Unlimited call and SMS allowances are subject to our fair usage policy (5,000 mins and 1,000 SMS). Usage outside of these allowances are charged at 5p/min & 5p/sms. By default we only allow calling to inclusive numbers (excluding non-standard 07 numbers) to avoid incurring additional charges. You can request that these restrictions are removed at our sole discretion.