There's more than one way to take out liability insurance: directly with an insurer, online, or through a broker. This article is about when the broker route genuinely adds something – and, just as honestly, about what a broker can and can't do. My role is simple: I assess your needs and explain the options – the decision is always yours.
- A broker acts on the client's instructions: comparing offers from several insurers, not representing one company's products.
- The added value sits in three places: sizing, running a competitive process, and help in a claim – in stuck or disputed cases.
- Advice is free of charge to the client: the broker's remuneration is paid by the insurer.
When the broker route makes sense
Five typical situations. A complex profile: several activities, a chain position, machinery, work abroad – designing the structure calls for expertise (needs assessment). You need to meet requirements: a chamber, a client, a tender – matching the requirement to the policy is my everyday work (client-requirement articles). Switching or a policy review: because of the continuity rules (the retroactive date!), this is where a mistake costs the most (the switching article, a policy review). You want a competitive process: several offers, in one table, compared on content (the comparison table article). There's an open or past claim: helping you in a stuck or disputed case, where I can, is part of the service (the claims article).
What does a broker actually do – behind the scenes?
The visible part is the table and the advice. Less visible: writing the specification (so offers are genuinely comparable), checking the substance of offers (did the requested endorsements actually go in), checking the policy, handling certificate requests, forwarding the changes you report, the renewal comparison if you let me know beforehand – and, at claim time, the work of asking questions and liaising, where I can help. The point of a good broker relationship is continuity: not a single transaction, but cover that's maintained over time.
And what a broker can't do
Three honest sentences. I can't create cover beyond what the terms allow: if something isn't insurable, I'll say so. I don't promise an outcome in a claim: my help works toward an orderly process, it doesn't work miracles (more on the limits of this). And I don't decide for the client: the table shows strengths and weaknesses, and the right and the responsibility to choose stay with the client – that's not a courtesy line, it's the essence of the role.
Remuneration – openly
I don't charge the client a fee for advice or for running a competitive process: remuneration is paid by the insurer, following standard market practice. You know exactly what your broker lives on – and you also know the decision always stays with you. If you'd like to try it: a 20-minute free consultation, with no obligation – even if it doesn't turn into a working relationship, you'll come away knowing more about your own cover.
Example: two paths, the same business owner
A photographer first took out cover directly: it was quick, online, convenient – and worked fine for three years, because nothing happened. In year four, he added drone work, entered a tender, and had his first claim. That's when it became clear: the drone wasn't in the cover, the policy's structure didn't meet the tender requirement, and when the claim came in, there was no one to turn to with questions. After switching to the broker route, the same three situations look like this: reporting the expansion is one email, the specification handles tender compliance, and in a claim, there's someone to turn to. The direct route isn't a bad route – in a simple situation, it can work perfectly well. The difference shows up exactly where life gets complicated – and a business owner's life tends to head that way.
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