Skip to content

Market-leading specialists

We are the UK's market-leading, high-value life insurance broker, consistently topping all industry metrics.

We work with private banks and leading professional firms and provide solutions for sophisticated and wealthy clients both domestically and internationally.

Our reputation and good standing with insurers and reinsurers is a testament to the quality of our business and our ability to co-ordinate and negotiate with all parties involved in a high value insurance transaction.

Our experience and bespoke process allows us to handle the largest, most complex cases with a level of efficiency and discretion that is unique in the market.

Founded in 2009, we are a management owned business.

Advisers
Ben Backhouse
Founding Director
07785 574 982
Ben established Risk Assured in 2010. His frustration in writing large life insurance contracts resulted in his desire to re-engineer the way life cover is brokered. Prior to founding Risk Assured he was a Financial Adviser at Positive Solutions and St. James’s Place. He has a degree in Politics and Theology at Bristol University and holds the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. He has been awarded the Money Marketing Protection Adviser of the year. Outside life insurance his core interests lie in farming and estates.
Mike-Strutt
Mike Strutt
Senior Director
07973 793 755
Mike joined Risk Assured in 2014. Prior to this he spent 15 years as a Director at national IFA Firm Pantheon Financial Management, where he headed up the High Net Worth division. Protection was a fundamental part of the advisory process alongside investments and tax planning. He has a Master’s degree in Classics from Oxford University and holds the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. He enjoys playing football and fishing.
James-Agnew
James Agnew
Non-Executive Director
07764 567 848
James joined Risk Assured in 2021. Prior to this he was a founder partner of Stackhouse Poland, a specialist high net worth general insurance broker, sold to AJ Gallagher in 2019. James is a Chartered Insurance Practitioner and brings with him extensive strategic and high net worth experience. His interests outside work include country pursuits, card games and mentoring young people.
Josh-Harris
Josh Harris
Associate Director
07989 579 424
Josh joined Risk Assured in 2021. Prior to this he was at the financial advisers Quilter and Prescient, firms which provided bespoke pension, life and investment advice. He has a Law degree and holds the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. He enjoys playing golf and collects vinyl records.
Lauren Deponeo
Associate Director
07881 636 053
Lauren joined Risk Assured in 2023. Prior to this she was at Vitality and more recently Aegon, where she was Protection Development Manager, helping build and maintain relationships for their most valuable accounts. She has a BSc (Hons) in Business and Information Technology, and is currently studying for her Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. Outside of work she enjoys travelling and playing netball.
Catherine Wilson
Associate Director
07788 264 418
Catherine joined Risk Assured in 2023. Prior to this she spent 6 years as a Director at Russell Investments and 16 years at Standard Life working in partnership with HNW advisers, accountants and lawyers. She has a BSc (Hons) degree in Mathematics, is a Chartered Financial Planner, holds the Investment Management Certificate and is currently studying for her MBA. Outside of work she enjoys yoga, cycling and tennis.
Adviser support
David-Ogley
David Ogley
Managing Associate
David joined Risk Assured in 2021. Most recently, he worked as an Account Manager for a claims management company. Prior to this, he worked at Aegon for a number of years. David graduated from Durham University and holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Earth Sciences. In his spare time David enjoys football and fell-walking.
Rose Fallon
Rose Fallon
Senior Associate
Rose joined Risk Assured in 2019. Prior to this, she worked at AXA insurance. In her role as Key Account Manager Rose has responsibility for a number of Risk Assured’s accounts, serving as the main liaison and further developing the strong relationships we hold with them. Rose graduated from Lancaster University and holds a BA (Hons) degree in History, a subject in which she has a keen interest. In her spare time Rose enjoys running, general fitness and travelling.
Jo-Johnstone
Jo Johnstone
Senior Associate
Jo joined Risk Assured in 2013. She has responsibility for all in force policies and the ongoing servicing of these as well as assisting with new business. Prior to joining Risk Assured, she worked at Aegon for 12 years in their Premier Service team looking after their key accounts, including Risk Assured. In her spare time Jo trains a Morris dancing troupe and runs marathons.
Katy Hickton
Senior Associate
Katy joined Risk Assured in 2023. She has worked in financial services for 19 years. Prior to joining Risk Assured, Katy was part of the Large Case & Premier Service team at Aegon looking after their key accounts. In her spare time Katy enjoys walking and spending time with her young children, family and friends.
Olivia-Hill
Olivia Hill
Associate
Olivia joined Risk Assured in 2022. Prior to this she worked at NS&I as a deputy team leader on the Incident Remediation team. Olivia is currently studying the AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting and graduated from Lancaster University with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design. In her spare time Olivia enjoys running, cooking and baking.
Rachel Garner
Associate
Rachel joined Risk Assured in 2023. She has worked in financial services for over 25 years. Prior to joining Risk Assured Rachel worked at Guardian Royal Exchange, and more recently at Aegon, where she was part of the Large Sum Assured Team and responsible for all aspects of administration of HNW Business. In her spare time Rachel enjoys spending time with her family and going out for walks with her dog.
Lisa Rawcliffe
Associate
Lisa joined Risk Assured in 2023. She has worked in financial services for over 20 years. Prior to joining Risk Assured, Lisa worked at Aegon on the Premier Service Team where she was responsible for looking after their top five HNW accounts. In her spare time Lisa enjoys horse riding, running and spending time with her young family.
Underwriting and Broking
Chris-Latham
Chris Latham
Director of Broking
Chris has been with Risk Assured since 2011. As Director of Broking he has responsibility for all insurer and reinsurer relations, ensuring the acquisition of optimal terms for our clients. He is currently studying for his Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. Prior to joining Risk Assured, he worked at Aegon in their Premier Service team looking after their key accounts, including Risk Assured. In his spare time, he enjoys playing squash and golf.
Andy Lomas
Director of Underwriting
Andy is Director of Underwriting. He has worked in the insurance industry for 17 years and the last 10 in a large case underwriting role. He has extensive knowledge of the reinsurance market in addition to complex pricing arrangements. In his spare time he is a youth football coach and enjoys fly fishing.
Shane-Bishop
Shane Bishop
Underwriter
Shane joined Risk Assured in 2021. Prior to this he spent 7 years as an Underwriter at Allianz Insurance. Shane has a BA (Hons) degree from Lancaster University in History. In his spare time he likes to play football, travel and enjoys cooking.
Ungoo Anderson
Underwriter
Ungoo joined Risk Assured in 2022. She has worked in financial services for 19 years, having previously worked at Aegon, both in the High Net Worth team looking after key accounts and as an Underwriter. In her spare time she enjoys keeping active, eating out and spending time with her family.
Chesca Beirne
Underwriter
Chesca joined Risk Assured in 2023. She has worked in financial services for over 5 years. Prior to joining Risk Assured, Chesca worked at Aegon on the High Net Worth team and more recently on the Claims team assessing and dealing with life, critical & terminal illness claims. In her spare time, Chesca enjoys training and competing in triathlons. She also enjoys horse riding and has competed at County and National level in dressage.
Alex-Capstick
Alex Capstick
Head of Medical Services
Alex joined Risk Assured in 2017 and provides underwriting support to our in-house underwriters. She has 20 years’ experience in financial services having worked previously at Aegon both in the pricing team and Premier Service team looking after their key accounts, including Risk Assured. Alex enjoys walking, cooking and travelling in her spare time.
Finance and Operations
Tanya-Nixey
Tanya Nixey
Director of Finance
Tanya has been with the firm since inception and acts as Company Secretary and Finance Director. Prior to this she was an Accountant at RSM UK. She has a degree in law and accountancy and is a member of the ICAEW. In her spare time, Tanya enjoys horse riding and running.
laura-dowdswell
Laura Dowdeswell
Director of Operations
Laura joined Risk Assured in 2019. As director of operations, Laura has responsibility for the day to day operations of the business. Prior to Risk Assured, Laura has 14 years’ experience of working in financial services with the last 7 of those years dedicated to operations functions. In her spare time Laura enjoys travelling, playing golf and attending sporting events.

Careers at Risk Assured

If you are interested in joining our team, please get in touch

Your browser is out of date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customise your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.