David Allison

When did you start working for ICS and what was your original role?
I joined in September 2021, as Senior Compliance Consultant following ICS’s acquisition of Compliance Management Services Ltd (CMS). I was promoted to Head of Intermediary Consultancy South role in March 2022.

What are your key focuses in your current role?
It is all about keeping my clients compliant, informed, happy and aware that they can contact me about anything that’s troubling them. I also prioritise keeping my team of ICS consultants happy and motivated to do the same.

What do you love about your job?
It’s so varied. I love leading my team, seeing my clients (whether face-to-face or online) and providing solutions to problems, or helping them to work out the solution for themselves. I really enjoy digging into the FCA Handbook for answers to complex compliance questions.

I also enjoy creating thought-provoking content on LinkedIn.

What were you doing before ICS?
My first job was as a teenager when I collected fortnightly raffle money from about 100 neighbourhood homes for the local hospital friends group. I started my insurance career in 1984 with a trainee underwriter role at Prudential. I then moved to a small broker in 1992 which was later acquired by Bluefin. I was there for 20 years in all, until I left to take a compliance role with CMS.

Before that I did think about going to university - I had the right grades - but, ultimately, I wanted to get into the workplace as soon as possible. Come to think of it, my headmaster at the time was quite upset with my decision and refused to talk to me - I obviously didn’t do his league tables much good in that respect!

How did you end up in insurance compliance?
‘End up’? Doesn’t everyone aspire to be in compliance? I tell my clients it’s the sexy side of insurance. Not all of them believe me, though…

Are you a member of any insurance bodies?
I have the ACII Chartered Insurance Institute qualification and I’m a member of the Protect Association.

What are your key priorities for your clients?
I want to be there when they need me and reassure them that I am on their side, not the regulator’s!

What are the key issues affecting your clients at the moment?
Product governance and the mini-industry that’s been created through over-zealous compliance departments at some insurers and scheme providers. In some cases the requirements being put on brokers are totally over-the-top and a serious drain on my clients’ resources. I’m here to help them to navigate that and advocate for proportionality in compliance.

Do you have any particular specialisms?
Although I deal with all types of insurance intermediaries, I do have quite a few clients in the travel insurance sector and I get to speak at some of their trade events. I also have a good number of managing general agents as clients, so I understand the nuances between brokers and MGAs which I think is very important when giving proportionate compliance advice.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time and why?
How long have you got? I’m a member of a vibrant running club and enjoy parkrun on a Saturday almost every weekend. I even do a bit of ‘parkrun tourism’ so if I am away in the UK or abroad I try to find a local one to run. On Sundays I volunteer at Junior parkrun then head to church.

I enjoy socialising and meet-up with a group of chaps in my local Costa for a chat and a laugh before work most days. I also like doing DIY and being in the garden, mainly to work on construction-based projects rather than horticultural.

More unusually, I am also a ventriloquist and won a European award for that too. I also taught myself to speak Welsh during the Covid lockdown. I also play the piano, I’m the Secretary of the local woodland Friends Group and a member of our local lawn bowls club (youth section!). Watching F1 with my lovely wife, who is an avid fan, is another passion. We also love spending time with our two granddaughters. As you can see, I keep busy.