When you call an insurance company you can get a quote from that insurance company to compare rates. When you are dealing with an insurance broker, they have relationships with a large number of companies and over time have come to an understanding of which situations match best with the companies they represent. If you have tickets or accidents on your driving record, an insurance broker won’t bother running a quote with the company that only insures drivers with clean records. That saves you time and money – as well as having one less soft inquiry on your credit report from an insurance company.

Purchasing policies through an independent insurance broker means you have a better chance of the agent finding the best policy for your situation. They will get paid no matter which company you are placed with. If you call your local insurance company that represents only one company they will try and sell you that policy no matter what the rate is since they can’t shop around for you. Many online insurance quotes are from insurance brokers.

If you receive a renewal on your auto or homeowner’s insurance and the premium has increased dramatically, your insurance broker will probably know why that happened and will shop your policy around to see if you can get a better rate with a different company they represent.

No insurance broker works with every insurance company out there, so even if you have been with a broker for a while you may want to shop around with another independent broker once every few years to make sure you are getting the best rate possible. Before you do this, make sure you know what companies your current insurance broker has access to and then see if you can find another broker that has a different set of companies they work with. When you talk to the new broker, you can tell them not to run your policy with the companies your current broker works with – that will save you and your agent time and you will get your quotes faster.

An insurance broker can put together a portfolio of insurance policies for your auto, home, business, and life that are the best mix for your personal situation. Through a mix of companies, or even having all your policies with one company and receiving a multi-policy discount, an independent insurance broker can find you the best deal from many companies.

Article credit: http://enlightenme.com/insurance-broker/