Our business was established in 1950 as H & L Balen and has
grown consistently over 60 years by reputation and recommendation.
As part of our evolving process, we formed a new company Balens Ltd
(Balens) in 2003 to concentrate on our General Insurance Business,
leaving H & L Balen & Co to handle Financial Services,
Mortgages and Business Loans. Both companies moved to new
purpose-built premises at 2 Nimrod House, Sandy's Road, Malvern,
WR14 1JJ in 2004. This enabled us to expand our workforce,
administration systems, software and equipment to service the ever
increasing needs of our clients both in the UK and abroad. In
2011 we extended our offices into 3 Nimrod House to further
accommodate our growing business.
Our core values and purpose centre on client satisfaction,
quality advice and support. Our slogans "we care for the carers"
and "experts who care" describe this intention, and is a good
reflection of how we operate. We value the relationships we have
with our clients, and in servicing them will always try and "go the
extra mile".
We are in the unique position of having a wide range of
specialized, flexible insurance policies not usually obtainable
elsewhere. We are one of the very few Brokers and Independent
Financial Advisers whose main clientele and business revolves
around Health Professionals and their Associations. We believe that
no other intermediary has as many customised block schemes for
Health Professional Organisations.
In recent years, we have added Charities, Not for Profit
Associations and Mainstream Educational Establishments to our
client base bringing our high standards of care and attention to
these sectors and offering Risk Management together with a
revision of their existing insurance facilities. This has been
well-received.
From our headquarters in the Spa town of Malvern, we look after
the insurance needs of many thousands of all types of Health
Professionals, organisations, charities and the not for profit
sector. We have considerable experience and expertise in this
field, and are known by both clients and insurers alike for our
integrity and competence. Since the advent of regulation for UK
General Insurance Business in 2005, we have employed the services
of our own full time Compliance Officer to ensure that both Balens
and our Introducer Clients follow the requirements of the
Regulations.
We have a culture of education at Balens, encouraging and
supporting our staff to pursue External Qualifications in addition
to our In-House Training. Health Professionals frequently
come in to help our staff understand day to day issues faced by our
clients, and we attend medico-legal and regulatory body seminars to
get the most up to date issues around Medicine and the Law.
Both Balens and H & L Balen are authorised and regulated by
the Financial Services Authority (FSA). We follow high
standards of professional conduct and abide by a Code of Ethics,
rules and regulations. Being authorised and regulated by the
Financial Services Authority also means that we comply with
stringent financial checks, reports and controls on a continual
basis.
Balens are members of the main UK Insurance Brokers
Association. H & L Balen & Co uses the services of Bankhall
for compliance support, preferential insurance rates and
sophisticated research software. For mortgage business, H & L
Balen are members of several Mortgage Clubs using specialised
research and access to special scheme rates not usually available
on the open market.
