Broker or buy direct · Checked 7 September 2026

Simply Business alternative: an independent broker’s honest comparison

Simply Business runs a fast, non-advised online service that lets small businesses compare and buy cover across a panel of brands; this page explains, fairly, who that suits and when a full-service independent broker — advice, a wider market search and hands-on claims help — fits better.

Part of: Do I need an insurance broker?

In short

Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited, an FCA-authorised intermediary that runs a non-advised, information-only online service and is owned by the US insurer Travelers. It places cover through a panel it describes as up to 28 leading insurance brands, plus in-house underwriting, across more than 1,700 trades, and says it reached one million UK customers in June 2026. It suits businesses with simple, standard risks who want to compare and buy quickly online without advice. A full-service independent broker fits better when you want a personal recommendation, a search beyond a fixed panel, help with a non-standard risk, or claims advocacy. Apex is an independent, director-owned broker with access to over 30 markets including Lloyd’s and a named broker on every account.

What Simply Business is

From Simply Business’s own regulatory and about pages, checked on 7 September 2026:

An intermediary, not an insurer. “Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited” (Simply Business, important information), an FCA-authorised intermediary, not an insurer carrying the risk itself.
A non-advised, information-only service. In its own words it is “an intermediary, providing a non-advised service both online and by phone” (Simply Business, what is an insurance broker). It gives no personal recommendation: you make the final choice.
Owned by Travelers. “The Simply Business group is owned by The Travelers Companies, Inc.” (Simply Business), a US-listed insurer that completed the acquisition on 4 August 2017 (Travelers / Business Wire, 4 August 2017).
A panel plus in-house underwriting. It places business through a panel it describes as up to “28 leading insurance brands”, plus “in-house underwriting capability”, bought online or by phone (Simply Business, one million UK customers).
Broad small-business reach. It covers small-business and landlord insurance across “more than 1,700 trades and professions”, and says it “reached one million customers in the UK” in a release dated 18 June 2026 (Simply Business, 18 June 2026).

Who it suits well: businesses wanting a fast, self-service, compare-and-buy purchase across a broad panel for standard SME or landlord risks.

The honest comparison

The fair contrast is not regulation — both are regulated — but a non-advised platform versus an advised, whole-of-market broker.

Advice. Simply Business is explicitly non-advised: no personal recommendation, you decide. A full-service broker gives a personal recommendation and must explain why the cover meets your demands and needs.
Market reach. A panel of named brands is a strong shortcut for standard risks, but it is not the whole market; a broker can also approach insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates outside any panel.
Non-standard risk. An online journey is built around standard trades; an unusual, high-value or previously declined risk is better presented to underwriters in writing.
Claims. On a platform you deal with the insurer; a broker advocates for you and helps you notify correctly.

Both run a demands-and-needs check and are bound by the Consumer Duty, so a Simply Business customer is not unprotected — the difference is advice, reach and hands-on help, not regulation.

When Simply Business is the right choice

For a large share of small businesses, Simply Business is genuinely the right tool, and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise.

Your risk is simple and standard. If your trade is one of the more than 1,700 it lists and your cover is off-the-shelf, an online purchase is quick and efficient.
You want to compare and buy fast. A panel of up to 28 brands priced in one online journey, with documents the same day, is hard to beat for speed.
You are happy without advice. If you know exactly what you need, a non-advised purchase is a sensible, regulated choice.
You value the backing of a large insurer. Ownership by Travelers puts a substantial insurer behind the platform, and its reach across more than a million UK customers is real scale.

If that is your situation, staying with Simply Business is the sensible call.

When an independent broker is worth it

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 and commercial 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.

What that means in practice:

Owned by its directors, not for sale. No consolidator, no private-equity owner, no external shareholders — and we have declined approaches to buy the firm. Read the Apex Independence Charter.
Independent, not tied. No single-insurer scheme, no in-house policy, no placement quotas — the recommendation is the one that fits, not the one we are paid to push.
Over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s. Specialist UK PI insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, so a risk that one underwriter dislikes can still be placed properly with another.
Usually three or four competing quotes, laid out side by side — limit, excess, retroactive date, exclusions and premium — with a plain-language note on the trade-offs.
The stay-put letter. If your existing cover is right, we say so in writing, free and without obligation. How the stay-put letter works.
A named broker all year. The person who places your cover is the person who picks up the phone at renewal, on a mid-term change, or when a letter of claim lands.
Director-level attention on claims. We help you notify circumstances early and in the right form, stay involved once the insurer’s panel solicitors are appointed, and tell you plainly where you stand.
Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

If your existing cover is already right, we say so in a stay-put letter, free and without obligation.

Sources checked 7 September 2026

Frequently asked

Is Simply Business a broker or an insurer?

Simply Business is an insurance intermediary, a trading name of Xbridge Limited, not an insurer. It describes its service as non-advised, meaning it gives you information and lets you compare and buy, but does not give a personal recommendation. It places cover through a panel of insurance brands plus in-house underwriting, and its group is owned by the US insurer Travelers.

Who owns Simply Business?

Simply Business states that its group is owned by The Travelers Companies, Inc., a US-listed insurer, which completed the acquisition in August 2017. That gives the platform the backing of a large insurer, though it remains an intermediary placing cover across a panel of brands rather than only selling Travelers’ own products.

When is Simply Business the right choice?

When your risk is simple and standard, you know what you need, and you want to compare and buy quickly online without advice. Its panel of up to 28 brands, more than 1,700 trades covered and one million UK customers make it a strong fit for straightforward SME and landlord cover bought in one sitting, backed by a large insurer.

How is an independent broker different?

A full-service independent broker gives a personal recommendation, searches beyond a fixed panel — including insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates that do not sell online — and advocates for you at claim time. Simply Business is explicitly non-advised, so the difference is advice, reach and hands-on help, not regulation.

Does Simply Business give advice?

By its own description, no: it provides a non-advised service online and by phone, meaning it does not make a personal recommendation and leaves the final choice to you. That is a legitimate, FCA-regulated model, and it still runs a demands-and-needs check. If you want a recommendation you can rely on, that is what an advised broker adds.

Can Apex quote the same insurers?

Possibly. Some insurers sell through both online platforms and independent brokers, but the terms offered through one route are not automatically those offered through another. Apex compares the wording and price in front of it, not the logo, and returns three or four quotes with limit, excess and retroactive date on each.

Send us your Simply Business cover and we will tell you where you stand

A named Apex broker checks your cover against your contracts and regulator, then either takes the risk to the wider market or tells you in writing that a direct purchase is serving you well. Or call 0117 325 0027.

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Apex 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 about how to buy insurance, not advice on your circumstances, and does not guarantee cover will be available or on what terms. Statements about other providers were taken from their own websites, Companies House or dated public sources on 7 September 2026 and may have changed; provider names are their owners’ trade marks, used only to identify them, and no provider named has endorsed this page. Apex publishes no premium figures of its own here.