When Gary Humphreys co-founded Markerstudy with Kevin Spencer in 2001, he saw plenty of opportunities for the new and privately-owned entrant in the insurance market. Going by his prior experience within the sector, he noticed that companies were getting larger and larger, which was compromising their service and moving them further away from their customer base.
“We saw there was an opportunity for a new and much more nimble business that could react quickly to the demands and needs of customers, to fulfil their requirements in the marketplace,” he explains.
“Markerstudy was basically born out of the frustration of dealing with the big composite insurers in the UK market who, despite their best endeavours, really took a very long time to make a decision or to grasp any new opportunities. I think because we are privately owned, we have the ability to make decisions very quickly. We don’t have layers upon layers of committees who are involved with the process, so we can make a quick decision and then we can deliver on that right away. Often, and this is the case for some our competitors, opportunities can be missed due to the time it takes to bring a new idea or product to market.”
With Gary’s experience in underwriting and Kevin’s in brokering, the entrepreneurial duo struck gold with their fresh and innovative approach to tackling the insurance industry. “We are not like other mainstream insurers, we listen to the customer and we want to deliver products to market sectors we feel are underserved by the global conglomerate,” Gary notes. “We like to assist the people that other insurance companies often don’t want to touch, such as those with high-performance cars, unusual occupations, taxis, driving schools, or young drivers.”