How do I know I am getting a fair price with only one broker?

Ask which markets were approached and what each one said. A broker who has genuinely shopped it can tell you who declined, who quoted, and why the winner won. That is a far better test than a second number from somebody who has been handed your first one — and it is a question that separates the brokers who did the work from the brokers who did not.

What is a broker of record letter?

A short written instruction from you telling the carriers which broker represents you. It moves the account without re-shopping it, which is precisely why it exists — you are entitled to change who represents you without setting fire to the markets. If you want to move, use one of these rather than quietly starting a parallel submission.

So I am stuck with whoever I started with?

Not at all, and we would say the same if you were leaving us. You can move representation at any time with a broker of record letter, and you should if you are not being served. What does not work is having two people shopping the same risk at once — that is not competition, it is two people fighting over a smaller and smaller pool of markets.

My current broker says the market is blocked. Is that real?

Almost certainly, yes. It is a genuine mechanism rather than an excuse, and it is checkable — ask which carrier and when. A blocked market usually clears after a period, but rarely before the renewal you needed it for.

Should I have more than one broker shopping my insurance?

No, and it usually costs you money rather than saving it. Carriers accept a submission from one broker at a time, so a second broker sending the same risk to the same market gets blocked — and the markets that lock out are frequently the ones that would have quoted best.

Call/Text(626) 344-2158

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Tell us the situation.

A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.

We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.

The detail

Commercial insurers generally accept a submission on a given risk from one producer at a time, and a market is considered blocked once a submission has been registered to a broker.
Commercial market practice
A broker of record letter is a written instruction from the insured naming which broker represents them to the carriers, and it is the mechanism by which representation moves.
Commercial market practice

What this means for you

Think of it as poker. Your broker is playing the hand for you, and they can only play the cards they are holding. Give half the hand to somebody else and nobody at the table is playing to win — they are both playing not to lose the account.
The markets get used up. Every carrier a second broker approaches is a carrier your first broker can no longer approach, and blocked markets do not unblock because you changed your mind. The best market is frequently the one that got burned first.
A cheaper number is not automatically a better deal, and here is the trick to watch for: a second broker who sees your quote can go to THE SAME carrier, change one deductible, and come back with something that looks cheaper. Same insurer, same policy, different excess. We have seen it done.
Compare like for like or do not compare. Limits, deductibles, exclusions and the endorsements the contract requires — if any of those differ, the two numbers are not answering the same question.
Pick one broker and give them everything. The version of the account with all the information gets the best terms, every time, and it is not close.

Need this handled?

We do the filings, and we place the accounts other brokers decline — lapsed authority, claims history, new ventures. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.