Top earning schemes deliver brokers reliable commission growth

Schemes brokers have seen the highest earning schemes deliver continued commission growth over the past two years, with top-earning scheme SME package crossing the £8m commission barrier for the first time, according to the Insurance Times Schemes Index, published in October 2025.

The Insurance Times Schemes Index analyses comprehensive premium, commission and renewals data from over 500 scheme types, exclusively supplied by broker schemes software provider SchemeServe.

SME package – historically the highest earning scheme – netted brokers £8.04m in commission in the period covering 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025, some £518,000 more than in the same period the previous year and the highest earnings the line has seen to date.

Likewise, commercial combined and commercial property owners’ schemes posted increased profits, earning brokers £5.4m and £4.6m respectively – year-on-year increases of £1m and £400,000.

The specialist combined scheme’s impressive £1.23m year-on-year growth to a total commission of £3.06m saw the scheme climb two places to become the platform’s fourth most valuable scheme for the period.

Combined liability (£2.08m), professional indemnity (£2m), household (£1.95m), pubs and clubs (£1.39m), residential property owners (£1.21m) and excess of liability (£1.02m) completed the 10 schemes that earned brokers over £1m in the period.

Outside of the top earning schemes, cyber liability – a line which has been a high growth area in recent years – saw earnings decline.

Adam Bishop, chief executive at SchemeServe, explained: “Cyber liability saw premiums drop by 28% and total commissions fall a consequent 19%, an interesting year-on-year statistic, particularly when compared to this last six-month period which has seen a dramatic increase in policy volumes, premium and renewals.

“This could be indicative of a clear shift in attitudes to cyber following numerous recent high profile cyber attacks.”

Consistent earnings growth

When comparing the six-month period of 1 March to 31 August across the past three years, consistency in growth was seen across the top five highest earning schemes.

SME package increased commission earnings by 13% between the periods in 2023 and 2024, before continuing its upwards trajectory with a further 7% gain into 2025.

Commercial combined posted even stronger results, rising 35% from 2023 to 2024 and maintaining its momentum into 2025 with an additional 23% increase. Commercial property owners also grew significantly at first, recording a 28% gain, although growth moderated slightly to 9% into 2025.

In contrast to the pattern of slowing growth the top three earning schemes showed, specialist combined and combined liability delivered accelerating growth. Specialist combined rose by 46% between 2023 and 2024, then surged by 69% into 2025. Combined liability also grew robustly, climbing 12% between 2023 and 2024, before adding an additional 37% of commission earnings into the 2025 period.

For schemes outside of the top five earners, a much more varied performance was seen.

Professional indemnity earnings stayed largely flat over the two year comparisons, while household initially fell 11% between 2023 and 2024, before rebounding to grow 83% between 2024 and 2025.

Pubs and clubs (-2%), residential property owners (-35%) and cyber liability (-19%) all saw commission fall between the six-month period one year ago and the most recent six-month period.

By far the strongest growth performance was achieved by the dental line – making its debut in the index – which saw commission grow by 742% over the past two years, cementing it as a fascinating scheme for speculating brokers.

Renewals and first premiums

Variability was also seen in the degree to which different schemes augmented their renewals and first policy counts.

The largest line, SME package, saw renewal policies grow by 4.9% between the previous and current six-month periods to finish at a total count of 18,200, while first premiums grew by 12.1% to 12,300.

Commercial property owners schemes saw renewal count grow by 13.7% to 12,200 between six-month periods while first premium count dropped by 0.7% to 10,200. Commercial combined grew its renewals count by 23.2% to 8,600 while first premiums dropped 18.1% to 4,900.

An interesting trend was seen in household schemes, where renewals dropped 1.5% to a count of 4,100, while first premiums climbed 8.1% to 4,300.

“In terms of the household line, premium increases were all about the first premium increases, with renewals relatively flat – which similarly translated into commissions. As the household market continues to soften, it will be interesting to see how this picture changes in the next six months,” Bishop said, adding that this high growth in first premiums may be evidence of “shopping around and movement by policyholders”.

Overall, the latest Insurance Times Schemes Index highlighted a market delivering high growth at the top end, with SME package, commercial combined and residential property owners schemes reliably adding to their market-leading income.

Other lines, however, have seen mixed results, with household, commercial property owners and cyber liability schemes showing signs of volatility.

The schemes market remains one of growth, though brokers will be wary of strong contrasts emerging between established earners and volatile growth prospects.