Ajay Mistry: Building a ‘successful schemes broker’

In March 2024, Ajay Mistry – co-founder of the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network (Ican) – launched the first scheme at his new UK insurance broker.

The broker – called Gambit Insurance Solutions – was incorporated in October 2023, with Mistry becoming its director. It specialises in sourcing cover for small businesses, charities and not-for-profits, media firms, freelancers, entertainment companies and startups. 

Its first scheme, called Mode Insurance, provides flexible cover for self-employed individuals, freelance creatives and small businesses.

Speaking exclusively to Insurance Times, Mistry explains that his ambition is for Gambit Insurance Solutions to become a “successful schemes broker”.

For him, the business is both “niche and forward thinking” because it truly focuses on its customer base.

He says: “We’ve built a brand with freelancers, for freelancers.

”Being niche is really considering your customer base. It’s about being deliberate with your partnerships, your service offering and content. And marketing is a key aspect of this business, not just an add-on.”

Mistry has always placed importance on ”deliberate” partnerships. His digital marketing consultancy, Gambit Partners, which was established in July 2022, works closely with appointed representative focused broker network Movo Partnership as well as PR and marketing business Bespoke Group.

He continues: ”I have a big network and I have managed to build good, strong partnership relations.

“I have been able to build an entire digital online insurance broker in just over five months – that is a good testament [to this partnership approach].”

Top of the agenda?

Mistry believes that broker schemes have not always received the attention they deserve.

He explains: “When it comes to smaller schemes, it’s never been top of the agenda.

”As consolidators come in, it feels like the smaller end of SME businesses is not being looked at in the same way any more. This is because competitors are not being replaced, so there is a big gap in the market.

“For the bigger brokers, they have got so many things to look at – bigger clients, different risks, etc. I think it’s not as exciting for people any more. Costs have gone up and so it doesn’t make logical business sense to focus on [schemes].” 

However, he believes that Gambit Insurance Solutions will be able to drive good value around schemes and plug the SME gap he has identified.

“The other side is how much marketing goes into schemes,” Mistry adds. “Schemes business is about being able to communicate a simple message to a customer base that needs to hear everything simplified in their language.” 

Throughout his career, Mistry has always worked with many freelancers, which gave him an insight into their insurance needs.

For example, freelancers that have contracts are often required to show an insurance certificate to secure the work. For Mistry, this is why his broker’s short-term insurance product is so valuable.