What's the point of an insurance broker?

If you run a growing business, you have three ways to buy insurance.

You can run your details through a comparison site, you can go direct to an insurer or online platform, or you can use a broker. This article sets out what each route is best for, and the honest pros and cons of all three, so you can decide which fits the business you actually have.

Insurance comparison site

Best for: simple, standardised risks where one policy is much like another.

Pros: The pros are speed and a quick read on price. You answer a short set of questions and get a ranked list in minutes, which is a useful rough market check.

Cons: The cons show up with anything non-standard. A comparison site ranks on price, not on like-for-like cover, so the cheapest result is often the thinnest.

The questions are blunt, the options are narrow, and nothing checks whether your limits are right or whether the policy excludes the activity that earns you most of your revenue. If you need to claim, you are on your own.

Going direct to insurers

Best for: very small businesses with genuinely standard risk who understand the wording they are buying.

Pros: The pros are simplicity. You cut out the middle step and get one price, a portal to manage your policy, one relationship.

Cons: The cons are that you carry the judgement. You interpret the wording, set your own limits, and decide which exclusions you can live with, before you have had a claim to test them.

The insurer sells its own products, so you get that company's price with nothing independent to benchmark it against. And at claim, you negotiate alone with the same party that decides what to pay (or whether to pay at all).

Using an insurance broker

Best for: buyers who aren’t insurance experts, non-standard risk, higher stakes, or any situation where getting the cover wrong costs more than the premium.

Pros: A broker sits on your side of the table. That changes three things.

1. Market Access. A directly authorised broker reviews the whole (or a wide view of) market rather than a single insurer's shelf, which matters most when your risk is unusual or your sector is poorly understood by the mainstream. That market access also brings buying power; placing business across many insurers often secures a better price than you would get going direct alone, so a broker is not the expensive option by default.

2. Advice. A broker's job is to work out what you need to be covered for, set the limits against your real contracts and exposures, and explain the exclusions in plain terms before you buy rather than after you claim.

3. Claims. This is where the difference between a portal and a broker becomes concrete. A broker manages the claim with you, argues the interpretation of the wording, and keeps the insurer honest about what the policy owes you. As a broker, we share with you the entirety of our claims communications so you can see how we fight your corner.

Cons: The honest cons. A broker adds a step at the point of purchase, and for a genuinely simple risk that step may be more than you need. You are also trusting the broker's read of the market, so it is worth choosing one who is directly authorised and reviews the whole of it. Much of a broker's value shows up over the life of the policy and at claim, rather than on the price you see on day one.

Putting the value in writing

Plenty of brokers will tell you they add value, and they wouldn't be wrong. A broker does add value.

We try to go a step further than most brokers, though. We make that value more concrete by putting our commitments in writing:

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.

96% of our clients renew each year, the clearest signal that the model works.

None of that appears on a price-ranked results page, because none of it is about price at the point of sale. It is about what the cover does for the two years after you buy it.

REALLY HONEST has been fantastic to work with. They brought real clarity to complex policy considerations, guided us toward the most suitable terms, and played a key role in negotiating a price that works for all parties. Kanu Batra, Speek

Summary

A comparison site finds you a price. Going direct gets you a policy. A broker reviews the whole market, often lands a competitive price through buying power, gets the cover right for the business you have built, and stands with you when you need to use it.

If your risk is genuinely simple and you are comfortable with the wording, going direct is a reasonable choice, and we will say so. For most growth-stage companies with contracts, employees, investors, and a product in the market, the threshold where a broker earns its place arrives quickly. If you want a straight assessment of whether your current cover fits, that is the conversation we are built for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a broker more expensive than going direct?
Not usually. A broker places business across many insurers, and that buying power often secures a better price than you would get approaching one insurer alone. You also get advice and claims support that going direct does not include. Usually you get more value for a lower price.

How does a broker get paid?
Most brokers are paid a commission by the insurer, built into the premium, rather than a separate fee from you. Any fees a broker does charge should be disclosed to you up front before you buy.

What's the difference between a broker and a comparison site?
A comparison site ranks policies by price against a short set of answers. A broker reviews the market on your side, checks the cover actually fits your risk, and stays with you if you need to claim. One gives you a price, the other gives you an assessment.

Do I actually need a broker for business insurance?
If your risk is simple and standard and you are comfortable interpreting the wording, going direct can be a reasonable choice. A broker earns its place when your risk is unusual, the stakes are high, or the cost of getting the cover wrong is more than the premium.

What does "directly authorised" mean?
It means the broker is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in its own right, rather than operating under another firm's permissions. In practice it usually means a wider, more independent view of the market.

Does using a broker help when I need to claim?
Yes. This is where a broker's value is most concrete. A broker manages the claim with you, argues how the wording should be applied, and holds the insurer to what the policy owes you, rather than leaving you to negotiate alone.

Can I switch to a broker if I already have a policy?
Yes. You can move to a broker at renewal, or mid-term if it makes sense, and a good broker will review your existing cover for gaps before recommending any change. There is no need to wait until your current policy expires to get a second opinion.