FCA authorised · FRN 7249520117 325 0027Quote & buy →
Broker comparison · Howden · Checked 6 September 2026
Howden is a multinational broking group with a Bristol professional indemnity office; Apex is a Bristol PI specialist owned by its directors. What can be verified about each, and when each is the better fit.
Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex
In short
Howden is a multinational broker founded in London in 1994 which calls itself the fifth-largest employee-owned business in the UK, with 24,000 colleagues, 1.7 million clients and $51bn of premium under management by its own account. Its UK business acquired Aston Lark and, through it, the Bristol PI specialist Brunel Professions, and it has a professional indemnity office at Temple Quay, Bristol. Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent broker established in Bristol in 2009, owned entirely by its directors and directly FCA-authorised since 2016, with access to over 30 markets including Lloyd’s. The honest steer: a large, multinational or layered PI programme suits Howden’s scale; an owner-managed UK professional firm that wants one named broker all year, competing quotes and a straight answer on anything non-standard is what Apex exists for.
Howden Group Holdings Ltd is registered at One Creechurch Place, London EC3A 5AF. Its About us page describes starting “in a tiny office in London in 1994”, calls Howden “the 5th largest employee owned business in the UK” with “an employee ownership model, with aligned investor partners”, and reports 24,000 colleagues, 1.7 million clients and $51bn of premium under management across 100 countries (page checked 6 September 2026).
Howden agreed to buy Aston Lark in October 2021 (Howden, 13 October 2021); Aston Lark had bought Brunel Professions, a Bristol PI specialist founded in 2005, in September 2020 (Insurance Post, 11 September 2020). Howden’s Bristol PI contact page gives an office at 1 Linear Park, Avon Street, Temple Quay, Bristol BS2 0PS.
Its solicitors’ PII page reports “2,000+ legal sector clients”, “£130m PII premium placed”, “40+ dedicated legal experts” and that “93% of our solicitor clients have chosen to stay with us”, each footnoted as Howden client data correct as of April 2025, and describes “access to exclusive facilities, a wide range of A-rated insurers”. The Royal Town Planning Institute has appointed Howden its “preferred PII broker” (RTPI).
Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker established in 2009 and based in Bristol, owned entirely by its directors and directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, placing professional indemnity insurance for UK professional firms across the UK. It is one of the longest-established independently owned professional indemnity specialists in the UK, and it is not for sale: we have declined approaches to buy the firm. We are not tied to any single insurer or professional-body scheme, we do not run our own policy or underwriting, and we have no placement quotas. We have access to over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, and we usually return three or four competing quotes set out so you can compare them like for like. Every client has a named broker — the same person from first quote to renewal — and every claim notification gets director-level attention rather than a call-centre queue.
Those commitments are dated and signed in the Independence Charter.
| What can be verified | Howden | Apex Insurance Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Howden Group Holdings Ltd: “an employee ownership model, with aligned investor partners”. | Owned entirely by its directors; not for sale. |
| Established | 1994, London. | 2009, Bristol. |
| Independent or group-owned | Group: a multinational whose UK business includes the former Aston Lark and Brunel Professions. | Independent: no consolidator, private-equity or external shareholder. |
| PI specialism | One line within a multi-line broker; legal-sector team of “40+” (April 2025); a Bristol PI office. | Professional indemnity and commercial insurance for UK professional firms. |
| How it says it accesses the market | “Access to exclusive facilities, a wide range of A-rated insurers”. | Over 30 markets including Lloyd’s via wholesale; usually three or four competing quotes. |
| Named contact model | Ten legal-team members named; regional offices. No single-named-broker promise published. | A named broker: the same person from first quote to renewal and claims. |
| Offices | London; Bristol (Temple Quay); 100 countries. | Bristol (53 Queen Charlotte Street, BS1 4HQ) and Weymouth. |
| Professional-body appointments published | RTPI preferred PII broker. | None; not tied to any professional-body scheme. |
Sources are linked above. “Not published” means we could not find it on the firm’s own site, not that the firm lacks it.
Scale is a real advantage in some situations, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise.
Nothing in a professional indemnity policy stops you asking a second broker for a view, and asking does not commit you to moving.
Nobody can honestly say before the market has seen your firm. The premium is set by the insurer that quotes, on your fee income, your work, your claims record, the limit and the excess; brokers differ in which insurers they approach and how they present the risk. The only reliable test is a second quote on the same basis. If ours is not better, we say stay put, in writing.
You can ask both to quote, and at renewal many firms do. Many PI underwriters will only consider a risk through one broker at a time, so tell each broker which markets the other has approached. Once cover is placed, one broker holds the policy. Keep the Howden renewal on track until you have decided.
Not from us. We do not contact your existing broker, and a comparison quote is confidential to you. If an insurer that already holds your risk through Howden declines to quote us because it is already engaged, we tell you that is why and go to the markets that have not yet seen your firm.
Professional indemnity is claims-made: the policy in force on the day a claim is made responds, provided its retroactive date covers the work in question. Any circumstance you already know about is notified to the outgoing insurer before you move; claims made afterwards, including about past work, fall to the new policy, and at Apex every notification gets director-level attention.
The UK professional indemnity market is served by a limited number of specialist insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates, and a broker’s reach depends on its own agencies and wholesale relationships. Apex has access to over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s via wholesale, and tells you which insurers it approached and which declined, so you can see the overlap yourself.
Howden says it has “an employee ownership model, with aligned investor partners” and lists independence among its founding principles. It is not insurer-owned, and it is not owned by its directors alone: it is a multinational group with employee and investor shareholders. Apex is owned entirely by its directors. Both are independent of any insurer; they are different kinds of ownership.
Brunel Professions was bought by Aston Lark in September 2020, and Howden agreed to buy Aston Lark in October 2021; Aston Lark completed its merger with Howden on 1 October 2023 and Howden’s site now describes it as the Corporate & Commercial division of Howden UK & Ireland. Your policy did not change because of the deals, but the ownership did. Ask what has changed in placement, claims handling and who looks after you.
Sometimes, for large or layered programmes, where scale brings access to capacity and facilities a small broker cannot offer. Not automatically for a small or medium-sized firm: the premium is rated on your firm, and what moves it is the insurer’s appetite for your profession and the quality of the presentation. Ask which insurers each broker actually approached for you.
Send your current schedule and renewal terms. A named Apex broker comes back with competing quotes on the same basis, or a stay-put letter if you are already well placed. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Get a comparison quote Ask for a stay-put letterApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms. Statements about other brokers come from their own websites, Companies House, the FCA register, professional bodies or dated announcements, checked on 6 September 2026, and are linked where quoted. Any firm named here may ask us to correct its entry; we will make and date the change.
