How to choose a Commercial Insurance Broker

In today’s vast sea of choice as a business owner one question remains a constant, how do I choose a commercial insurance broker? The key is to determine how your insurance broker approaches business, particularly how do they approach your business. Your business is what is being protected by the insurance policies that are purchased, if your broker does not understand every aspect of your business they are probably not providing a complete risk management solution. One question that few business owners ever ask their insurance broker is to see the submissions they are sending out to the insurance companies. These descriptions that are written and developed by your broker are the main source insurance companies underwriters use to underwrite your quotes and can ultimately affect your price. If you see a one line description of your business and it barely scratched the surface of what the business handles, this would be a red flag.

Key points to consider when choosing your broker:

• Create an outline or agenda for you meeting with a prospective broker
• Discuss coverage and options with your commercial insurance broker
• Make sure that the broker understands your business liability and property coverage needs and business operations

Questions are the best tool when it comes to obtaining insurance coverage for your business. Are you looking for specific coverage that your broke should have knowledge of, for instance Employment Practices Liability Insurance, Directors and Officers Insurance, Fiduciary Liability, Product Liability or errors and omission insurance. Each of these specific coverages has its nuances and your broker should be able to answer specific questions about these coverages if they claim to offer these policies.