How to choose a business insurance broker

An insurance broker has three jobs: find you the right cover, get you a fair price, and be on your side when you claim.

You can judge the first two at quote stage. The problem is, you only find out about the third if something goes wrong and you have to claim.

These four checks will tell you more before you sign, making sure you choose a broker that’s right for you.

1. Check they know your sector

Sector specialism is easy to claim. It’s a simple as putting a landing page on a website (we’ve got loads of those under “who we cover”). So you should ask for some evidence that a broker really does know your industry.

It matters because insurers price and word policies differently by sector. A broker who knows yours knows:

• which insurers want your specific king of risk
• what your client contracts and investors will ask for before signing a contract
• where standard wordings leave gaps in your protection

For a software business for example, that might mean the professional indemnity limits enterprise clients demand, or whether your liability cover responds to claims brought in the US.

For a food and drink brand, it might mean that product recall is non-negotiable.

Ask:

• “How many clients do you have in my sector, at my size?”
• “Which insurers do you use for businesses like mine, and why?”
• “Talk me through a claim you’ve handled for a business like mine.”

Good answer: numbers, named insurers and a specific claim story, anonymised of course.

Red flag: “We work with all sectors” and nothing more.

2. Check reviews and references

Reviews are useful, as they give you some insight beyond a rating or a price. They can tell you how fast the quote came, how friendly the call was, how knowledgeable the rep it. They can also tell you little about what happens at claim time.

At time of writing, we have 42 reviews on our Trustpilot page and all of them are 5*

• Read the negative reviews, if there are any, and how the broker replied.
• If you need more re-assurance, ask for a reference from a client who has claimed, ideally in your sector
• Ask what percentage of clients renew each year. A broker who knows the figure and shares it has nothing to hide. In the first half of 2026 96% of our clients renewed with us.

3. Ask what makes them different

Most brokers will tell you about their service, expertise and market access. Those are adjectives and often don’t mean a huge amount - that’s probably why you’re here, because it’s hard to tell one broker from the next

Ask what they’ll commit to in writing.

• “What happens to my premium after a claim?”
• “During a claim, will I see what you and the insurer say to each other?”
• “Do I get anything for a year without claims?”
• “How many insurers did you approach for my quote?”
• “What do you earn on my policy?” As a business customer, you have the right to ask, and the broker must tell you.

Good answer: a specific commitment you can hold them to.

Red flag: “We always go above and beyond.”

Some of these questions are ones we built our own business around. Ask them of us too.

Here’s what makes us different:

No claims bonuses. Every claim-free year should earn you a real discount, just like car insurance. We believe this is the first formalised mechanism of its kind in UK commercial SME lines.

Claims Price Promise. If you make one claim and it's under £25k, your price won't go up as a result. We absorb that cost ourselves if we have to.

Claims Communications. If you need to claim we'll show you exactly how we fight your corner with the insurer.

4. Check how they’re regulated

Every UK insurance broker must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). There are two ways to be regulated.

Directly authorised. The FCA authorises and supervises the firm itself. The firm is accountable for its own advice, conduct and compliance.

Appointed representative (AR). The firm works under another firm’s FCA authorisation, called its principal. The principal is responsible for the AR’s regulated activity.

Both are legitimate, and plenty of ARs look after their clients well. What changes for you:

• Who’s accountable. A directly authorised broker (like us) answers to the FCA for its own decisions. With an AR, that responsibility sits with the principal, a firm you may never deal with.
• Stability. If a principal ends the arrangement, the AR can’t arrange insurance until it finds a new principal or becomes authorised itself. That can disrupt your renewals and claims.
• Restrictions. A principal can set rules on which insurers or products its ARs use.

The government is tightening the AR regime. In February 2026 it consulted on reforms, including bringing ARs under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.

How to check (two minutes): search the firm’s name on the FCA Financial Services Register. “Authorised” means directly authorised. “Appointed Representative” means it works under a principal, and the register names that principal.

Ask: “Are you directly authorised? If not, who is your principal, and what happens to my policies if that relationship ends?”

Good answer: a clear one, given straight away.

Red flag: vagueness, or surprise that you asked.