Questions to Ask a Commercial Insurance Broker

Asking the same structured questions of every broker you evaluate is the single easiest way to make an apples-to-apples comparison, otherwise you end up comparing a polished pitch from one firm against an informal conversation with another. Below are the questions worth asking every broker on your shortlist, grouped by what they actually reveal.

Market Access and Expertise

1. How many carriers do you actively place business with in my industry?
2. Do you have wholesale or surplus-lines access for hard-to-place risks?
3. Can you share examples of clients you serve in my industry, at a similar size?
4. What’s your firm’s minimum account size, and where does my business fall relative to your typical client?

Compensation and Transparency

5. How are you compensated on my account, commission, fee, or both?
6. Do you receive contingent or bonus commissions from carriers you’re proposing?
7. Is there a written services agreement that spells out what’s included?

See our full guide on how brokers get paid for context on why these matter.

Claims and Service

8. Walk me through exactly what happens if I need to file a claim, who at your firm handles it?
9. Have you ever advocated for a client on a denied or delayed claim? What happened?
10. Who will be my day-to-day contact, and is that the same person pitching me now?
11. How do you handle certificate of insurance requests, same-day, or slower?
12. What’s your process for remarketing my account at renewal, automatic, or only if I ask?

FAQ

Should I ask these questions over email or in person? In person or by video is better for the market-access and claims-advocacy questions, where tone and specificity of the answer matter.

What’s the single most revealing question on this list? “Describe a time you advocated for a client on a denied or delayed claim.” A broker who can’t give you a specific, concrete example is telling you something about how they’ll show up when you actually need them.

How many of these questions should a good broker answer without hesitation? Nearly all of them. Hesitation or vagueness on compensation or claims-handling specifically is worth treating as a signal, not an oversight.