When looking around for cover, you have two choices, direct or using a broker. But what exactly is the role of a business insurance broker?
What a broker does not do, is go to an insurer to get you a price and then add their administration costs. A broker will usually earn a commission from the insurer. The broker will quote you a price, plus insurance premium tax. If you pay this premium, then they will settle to insurers, net of their commission.
For a standard, packaged commercial insurance product, say a shop, a broker will typically earn between 15 and 20%. Certain brokers, push and push the insurers to get higher commissions, based on their larger buying power. Whilst we cannot name names, you are allowed to ask your broker what commission they receive. If you are getting a quote, ask your broker how much commission and/or fee’s they receive. There are at least a dozen brokers we can think of who will shy away from telling you this, because they earn up to 50%, depending on the product.
A smaller broker, such as Businessinsure will be in the 20% region, but what service do you get that you would not get going direct? This covers a whole range of things, depending on the company.
We can only speak for ourselves, but you are looking at getting choice of providers, a personal service, quick delivery of quotes and documents and the most important of all, a good claims service.