UK ICMIF member Ecclesiastical Insurance has partnered with Brooks Braithwaite, part of the Petcover Group, to deliver a new scheme aimed at pet professionals.

Brooks Braithwaite offers insurance products tailored specifically for animal related risks including animal centres, shows, displays, dog walkers, pet sitters, kennels, catteries and similar pet-related businesses.

Ecclesiastical says this latest partnership with Brooks Braithwaite is further evidence of the breadth of its schemes appetite and desire to partner with specialist brokers who know and understand the risks their customers face better than anyone else.

The specialist insurer has set an ambitious target to double the size of the business by 2026 and has identified the schemes market as an area for growth.

Last year, Ecclesiastical announced new schemes with Brokerbility on its Bricks and Mortar scheme, MGA iprism on a new community proposition and Towergate to offer property capacity to larger came home providers.

In February 2023, Brooks Braithwaite (Sussex) Ltd was acquired by Petcover Group, an independent pet insurance company operating globally for over 40 years.

Andy Pearce, CEO of Petcover Group, said: “We were in a tough spot when our underwriter pulled out of the marketplace and had to move quickly. We had six weeks to move thousands of customers across with as little disruption as possible.“

Ecclesiastical understood what we were going through and were very supportive in getting us onboarded as quickly as possible. Their expertise and knowhow shone through, particularly compared to some of the alternatives out there.

“Our aim is to grow, and to do so in a way that supports our existing customers as well as new customers and I feel that we’ve now got a partner that matches our own ethos and culture and can help us deliver that ambition.”

Chris Withers, Schemes and Facilities Director at Ecclesiastical Insurance, said: “Partnering with Brooks Braithwaite gives us a fantastic opportunity to expand our schemes book and to work with a specialist broker who knows their market intimately.

“We moved quickly to support them when their underwriter pulled out, providing customers with certainty around cover despite short notice. Full credit has to go to our team here at Ecclesiastical for the pace of the onboarding process.

“Working with Brooks Braithwaite aligns with our own ethos of being specialists in our field. They have over 35 years of experience in providing insurance for their clients and we’re looking forward to helping them grow this scheme by listening to what these customers need and developing a long term partnership to meet those needs.”

Learn more about Ecclesiastical’s Schemes proposition, here.