Q&A with Eddie Hooker, CEO of mydeposits and the Hamilton Fraser Group

Why did you set up Hamilton Fraser?

Eddie gained his early experience with several big corporate insurers during the 1990s but decided to set up Hamilton Fraser with co-founder Simon Fox after the pair set themselves a goal to ‘do insurance better’.

“In those days it was much easier to set up an insurance company, and full of entrepreneurial spirit, we set out to bring something new to the market,” he says.

The aim was to provide customers with quotes or policies the day after they contacted Hamilton Fraser, which may not sound radical now but in those days, it could take a week for some big insurance companies to send paperwork out.

“In terms of service, we were the forerunner of the internet age of Direct Line-style insurance but without the internet,” he says.

“If you had told me then that Hamilton Fraser would be running three approved government schemes, and that we would be active in two different business sectors, then I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s been a phenomenal journey.”

What’s in the pipeline for landlords?

Eddie says that although landlords and letting agents may feel that much has changed over the past 25 years including higher taxation and more regulation, more is to come.

While governments in England, Wales and Scotland are planning more changes to the private rented sector next year, Eddie says that is unlikely to be the end of it as politicians across the UK focus on greater rights for consumers and, by extension, tenants.

“Renters are now a powerful voting group for any political party – we’re talking up to nine million tenants in the private rental sector out of a total UK population of 65 million,” he says.

“Landlords will be under increasing pressure to provide better service and improved property standards to the sector, and that’s why the corporate giants are piling in with so many ‘build to rent’ developments.

“For some of the opportunist or accidental private landlords, I think this will make their life tougher but not impossible.”

Why has Hamilton Fraser joined the Global Risk Partners family?

“The insurance market is becoming a lot more competitive and is increasingly dominated by fewer big players,” says Eddie.

“In today’s world, it’s very difficult for a business like Hamilton Fraser to independently secure the firepower needed to keep competitive without external help, and GRP was a good fit.

“Also, remember GRP haven’t taken us over, just acquired a majority stake in the business, and I’m still a significant shareholder.”

Hamilton Fraser will continue to be a standalone business, but Eddie says having GRP backing its growth is a key to success in the future.

“GRP controls £1.8 billion of gross written premiums whereas we control £30 million,” says Eddie, “so you can see the power that we can access with this deal.

“GRP persuaded the board as well as me and the exiting shareholders that they were a good home for Hamilton Fraser because GRP is very people orientated, culturally aligned with us and also very innovative in the digital space – something I’ve been working on with my team for the past three or four years.”

What does ‘digital innovation’ really mean?

Eddie says it’s all about delivering a service ‘on demand’ in the same way pizzas can be delivered on demand now at the tap of a button.

With a pizza, it’s either delivered to your home or you pick it up – that’s your choice. And it’s no different for insurance. Whereas landlords used to run their properties or portfolios via a spreadsheet on their PC, so more and more are using their mobile phones as ‘pocket offices’.

“For example, smartphone cameras can be used to take pictures for check-out inventories and already landlords can protect their tenant’s deposit via their phone on the doorstep and forward the statutory paperwork to the tenant there and then,” says Eddie.

Hamilton Fraser is also building a portal for landlords where, soon, they will be able to keep tabs on their insurance policies, deposit protection details and – if they’re a letting agent – manage their redress membership and processes, all via one common interface.

“But we’ve got to be careful that we don’t forget that business is about people, and we can’t assume that it’s ok to completely digitise everything – just like the pizza restaurant has a real person in the shop you can call if the online order goes wrong. Landlords and letting agents need a human to speak to about their issues, or to find advice.”