Selling insurance to third parties is a big business in the UK, according to an email survey of 400 member organisations by the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers.

Most British risk managers registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) as intermediaries are in business sectors that sell insurance to third parties.

Of the risk managers at 81 companies who responded to the survey, 21% have registered as insurance intermediaries and will be regulated by the FSA.

Two-thirds of respondents said they would not apply for licensing and the remaining 13% said they were undecided.

The FSA has so far received 13,282 registrations for an application pack and 9191 applications for “general insurance intermediation authorisation”.