Insurance and pension funding is among the most heavily regulated territories a business can enter: insurers and reinsurers are dual-regulated by the PRA and FCA, while occupational pension schemes follow The Pensions Regulator's regime. This path takes you through it in order: work out which regime applies, put the shared duties in place, then follow the guides for what you operate, and finish by checking you have covered everything.
Step 1 — Work out which rules apply
Identify what you operate — an insurer or reinsurer carrying risk, or an occupational pension scheme — and check you are in the right place: brokers and intermediaries follow different rules.
Step 2 — Put the shared duties in place
Every insurance and pension business must protect personal data and pay the ICO fee, insure its employees, and keep its workplace safe, fire-safe and free of discrimination.
Step 3 — Follow the rules for what you operate
Insurers and reinsurers work through both insurer guides — the prudential and conduct regimes run in parallel. Pension scheme operators follow the occupational scheme guide.
If you carry insurance risk — get authorised and stay solvent
Obtain PRA-led Part 4A permission as a dual-regulated firm, hold capital to the Solvency UK standard, ring-fence the long-term fund if you write life business, and meet operational resilience requirements.
Then meet your conduct and accountability duties
Operate the SM&CR, deliver the Consumer Duty on retail business, keep promotions compliant, handle complaints under DISP, pay claims in reasonable time, price home and motor business fairly, and participate in the FSCS.
If you run an occupational pension scheme
Register with The Pensions Regulator, meet the DB funding regime, satisfy trustee knowledge and understanding, connect to pensions dashboards, and keep the scheme qualifying for automatic enrolment.
Step 4 — Confirm you are compliant
Work through the insurance and pension compliance checklist to confirm every obligation that applies to your business is in place.