I thought the definition of a broker was that they worked for the insured vs an agent who works for the insurer. If you are working for the insured, wouldn\’t you have a duty to determine their insurance needs?
I am in VA. Here a broker is someone who is a middle man between the agent and the companiy. When these are used the brokers generally work with excess and surplus lines such as Lloyds of London, et al. These carriers have chosen not to become admitted in this particular state. Fees and taxes are usually charged and are reflected on the policies. An agent deal between the company and the insured(customer). Agents also work for insurance companies. This is who the client is allowed to contact. They however may not contact a broker directly. In this case Brown & Brown was acting as the agent and did not work for the company, they simply sold a product on their behalf. B & B also owns brokerages but they are independent of one another. As for the duty to \”determine their needs\”, lets be serious. As an agent I have to let you know the coverage is available, but I could sell you policies all day long. How can we accurately determine what your needs are? If we see the need we will offer but you are the best judge of what you \”need\”. Please,as crystal balls are hard to come by, tell us what method we could employ to tell everyone what the \”need\”?
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I thought the definition of a broker was that they worked for the insured vs an agent who works for the insurer. If you are working for the insured, wouldn\’t you have a duty to determine their insurance needs?
I am in VA. Here a broker is someone who is a middle man between the agent and the companiy. When these are used the brokers generally work with excess and surplus lines such as Lloyds of London, et al. These carriers have chosen not to become admitted in this particular state. Fees and taxes are usually charged and are reflected on the policies. An agent deal between the company and the insured(customer). Agents also work for insurance companies. This is who the client is allowed to contact. They however may not contact a broker directly. In this case Brown & Brown was acting as the agent and did not work for the company, they simply sold a product on their behalf. B & B also owns brokerages but they are independent of one another. As for the duty to \”determine their needs\”, lets be serious. As an agent I have to let you know the coverage is available, but I could sell you policies all day long. How can we accurately determine what your needs are? If we see the need we will offer but you are the best judge of what you \”need\”. Please,as crystal balls are hard to come by, tell us what method we could employ to tell everyone what the \”need\”?