For insurance brokers across Ireland, the current trading environment remains challenging. Soft market conditions, economic uncertainty and sustained increases in the cost of living and fuel prices are placing pressure on brokers and customers alike. At times like this, premium finance continues to play a vital role in helping customers manage cashflow while enabling brokers to trade with confidence.
Close Brothers Premium Finance Ireland’s (CBPFI) new Accelerate 2028 strategy is clear – Simplify, Optimise and Grow. This strategy reflects their long-term commitment to the Irish market. Simplifying their processes makes them easier to do business with, optimising their operations allows them to deliver consistency and resilience, and supporting Irish brokers and businesses to grow sustainably, even during soft market conditions.
What has changed is not their presence, but their focus. Under the Accelerate 2028 strategy, CBPFI took the decision to focus their growth on where they can add the most value through prioritising partnerships with brokers whose core focus is commercial lines. Critically, this does not mean walking away from personal lines. CBPFI continues to welcome personal lines business from their broker partners, provided it complements a broader commercial-focused proposition.
In fact, not only does CBPFI still welcome personal lines business, but they are actively investing in making customer journey enhancements. Recently, they have enhanced the customer onboarding eSign journey, increasing accessibility and removing friction from the experience.
Brian Cosgrove, Head of Sales at CBPFI, is clear: “We have not exited personal lines, and it’s important brokers understand that. Our strategy is about growing alongside brokers who are focused on commercial lines, but we absolutely continue to support their personal lines business as part of a balanced portfolio. This is about focus and partnership—not market withdrawal.”
At the centre of CBPFI’s proposition is a long-standing commitment to strong, trusted broker relationships. They believe this is where they add the greatest value. Premium finance works best when it is delivered through partnership - by understanding how brokers operate, the customers they serve and the challenges they face in a competitive and evolving market.
Supported by the Ireland-based sales team, this relationship led model allows CBPFI to tailor its support and work alongside brokers, face-to-face, to help them to grow and thrive. Furthermore, unlike some other premium finance providers, Close Brothers is laser-focused on the broker market – dedicated to working with brokers to help their finance penetration grow, rather than looking at further distribution models.
Alongside relationship management, data and insight play an increasingly important role in helping brokers identify and unlock new growth opportunities. In soft market conditions, growth requires more than intuition; it requires clear, actionable insight. Our market leading Focus360 product provides brokers with in depth visibility of their premium finance performance, customer behaviour and portfolio trends. By highlighting areas such as penetration, retention and risk, Focus360 helps brokers make informed decisions, identify opportunities within their existing books and build more resilient portfolios.
These insights are most powerful when combined with human expertise. Our sales and support teams use data as a starting point for meaningful conversations with brokers - helping them translate insight into practical actions that support sustainable growth. It is this blend of technology, insight and relationship driven support that differentiates CBPFI’s proposition in the Irish market.
Cosgrove, explains: “By combining strong broker relationships with meaningful insight and resilient operations, we help brokers identify growth opportunities, support their customers more effectively and build sustainable businesses - even in challenging market conditions. What our commercial lines brokers particularly appreciate, are their self-approval limits. This feature is unique in the market and allows brokers to speak with their customers in confidence when discussing the option of premium finance. ”
Whilst sustainable growth is important to CBPFI, this is balanced with its deep-rooted commitment to customer protection and broker confidence. Protecting customers and brokers is not driven by regulation alone; it’s part of CBPFI’s DNA. This is why transparency remains non-negotiable, particularly when it comes to premium finance credit agreements.
CBPFI is committed to ensuring customers are clear about the credit agreement they are entering into. This includes helping customers to make fully informed decisions at the point of sale.
“Transparency protects everyone,” Cosgrove explains. “Clear disclosure and alignment with the Consumer Protection Code 2025 create confidence for customers and brokers alike. It ensures customers understand their agreement, and it reinforces trust in premium finance as a responsible and valuable solution.”
Resilience is another defining pillar of CBPFI’s proposition. As Irish businesses contend with rising operational costs and economic uncertainty, the ability to spread insurance costs through premium finance has never been more important. For brokers, resilience also means working with a funding partner that offers consistency, stability and a long-term outlook.
As part of the Close Brothers Group, CBPFI benefits from prudent funding, strong governance and a disciplined, long-term approach to investment. This provides resilience, enabling the business to continue investing in service, technology and operational capability—supporting brokers today while preparing for tomorrow. Resilience is also developed further through the operational decisions taken to offshore elements of their contact centre. This decision is about optimisation, not reduction. By partnering with specialist service providers, they improve scalability, consistency and resilience, while allowing their onshore teams to focus their expertise on supporting brokers and adding value where it matters most. The outcome is enhanced service for both brokers and customers, and a stronger, more future ready premium finance proposition.
For existing broker partners, CBPFI’s message is one of support, protection and growth. For brokers considering a change, it is an open invitation to work with a premium finance provider that combines commercial focus, support for personal lines, regulatory alignment and long-term resilience. In a market where uncertainty may be the only constant, Close Brothers Premium Finance Ireland believes strong partnerships will remain the ultimate differentiator.
