Broker or tied agent: what is the difference?

A broker works for you and chooses between several insurers. An agent works with one insurer, or a few that do not compete, and can only sell their contracts. Both are registered with the FSMA, and both owe you information. The real difference is how many sets of general conditions are put in front of you before you sign.

Broker and agent: who represents whom?

The starting question is the simplest one: who does the intermediary legally work for? A broker acts independently. They hold no mandate from an insurer, and the Insurance Act of 4 April 2014 bars them from being tied by an exclusivity clause that would oblige them to place contracts with a single company. An agent, by contrast, is appointed by an insurer. That insurer designates them, sets their catalogue and answers for them.

In practice we speak of a 'tied agent' when the catalogue is limited to one company, or to several companies that do not compete with each other. Test-Achats gives AP Assurances, with its own branches, as an example of a tied agent. Insurers such as AG, Allianz, AXA, Baloise, Fidea, Optimco and Vivium, again according to Test-Achats, work with brokers. Both routes therefore exist for some companies.

One detail muddies the picture. There are also sub-agents, whose 'in training' status dates from 1 January 2022. They act under the full responsibility of a broker or an agent, who answers civilly for their actions. If the person in front of you is a sub-agent, the broker or agent they depend on remains your real legal counterpart.

The comparison, point by point

The experience periods come from the FSMA, which controls access to the register. They prove nothing about a particular adviser's quality, but they show that the law expects more from the status that compares the market.

Is the advice the same?

Almost, on paper. In both cases the law requires you to be asked about your needs before a contract is proposed. The gap lies in what can be proposed to you. A broker can say 'this contract is better than company X's'. An agent cannot, since they do not sell company X's.

That does not make the agent less honest. An agent who knows their catalogue perfectly sometimes spots a coverage gap that a generalist broker would have missed. But they cannot tell you that the neighbour does better.

The status decides how many exclusions you see

This is why I am writing this article, and it almost always escapes the comparisons. Two omnium contracts at the same price do not cover the same things. One will exclude headlight lenses, another tyres, a third will cap theft of accessories. These differences sit in the general conditions, and you only see them if someone shows them to you.

With a tied agent you see one wording. With a serious broker you can see three or four, provided you ask. It is not automatic: a broker can also present just one quote. The right reflex is the same with either.

Here is a worked example, fictional. Your bumper is damaged and the repair quote is €1,800. Two contracts carry the same premium. The first applies a €250 excess, the second €500 and also excludes built-in parking sensors. You receive €1,550 in one case, at best €1,300 in the other, and nothing for the sensors. The premium would not have told you.

Five questions to ask before signing

Ask them in writing, by e-mail. A written answer is worth more than a promise at the counter.

• Which insurers do you work with for car insurance? You learn whether you are talking to a broker, a tied agent or a multi-mandate intermediary.
• How many companies did you consult for my file? A broker who requested only one quote will say so, and you will know where you stand.
• Can you send me the general conditions and the product information document? The second is a standardised summary, but only the first contains the full exclusions.
• Which exclusions or sub-limits apply to my use and my vehicle? Headlight lenses, tyres, personal belongings, undeclared driver, mileage: ask for examples.
• Who handles my file if I claim, and how? A named contact, a response time, and what happens if you are partly blamed for the accident.

These five questions tell the two statuses apart more reliably than any premium comparison.

Can you check an intermediary's status?

Yes, and free of charge. The FSMA keeps a public register of insurance intermediaries. Every broker or agent appears there with a registration number that they must state on their documents. Looking up a name takes a minute, and absence from the register is an immediate stop sign: acting without being registered exposes a person to criminal penalties under the Act of 4 April 2014.

The register also shows the category: broker, agent or sub-agent. If your contact presents themselves as an 'independent adviser' while the register lists them as an agent, that is a reason to ask for explanations.

Changing intermediary without changing contract

It is possible in some cases and impossible in others. Your contract belongs to you and the insurer, not to the intermediary. But the insurer decides whether it accepts another intermediary to service a given product. A contract sold by a tied agent does not always move to a broker, because the company may reserve that product for its own network.

If you want to switch, start with the new intermediary: ask whether they can take over servicing of the existing contract. Cancel nothing before you have the answer. Our article on cancelling car insurance covers the deadlines, and the one on the independent broker explains how to read their register entry.

So, broker or agent?

It depends on what you want to compare. If your file is simple and you already know which insurer suits you, a well-informed tied agent does the job. If you hesitate between two levels of cover, have an atypical profile or want to see several exclusion wordings before choosing, the broker has a real advantage, provided you ask them to do that work.

In both cases the intermediary does not replace reading your conditions. The duty of advice gives you a right, not a guarantee: keep the written advice and reread it when you claim. To choose between an intermediary and a direct insurer, the article direct insurer, bank or broker sets the three channels side by side.

To set the plans side by side, the comparison tool lines up the cover, the ranking of the best car insurers details what each company covers and refuses, and the quiz frames in two minutes the level of cover you need.

The rules for intermediaries are set out in the Insurance Act of 4 April 2014. The FSMA keeps the register and publishes the access conditions for each status in its note on intermediary statuses (in French). If a dispute drags on, the Insurance Ombudsman examines complaints free of charge. In 2020 Test-Achats published a comparison of distribution channels that remains a good starting point, even if it is dated.

This site informs and compares. It is not an insurance intermediary and gives no individual recommendation: your specific conditions, and only they, prevail.