Insurance broker fees UK: commission, fees and what the FCA makes them tell you

This guide explains how insurance brokers are paid in the UK and what you are entitled to know about it. It quotes no commission percentages and no fee amounts, because Whito has not yet collected broker fee data and will not invent it. When Whito runs its broker remuneration collection, published terms only, the dated results will be published here.

The three ways brokers earn

Commission, paid by the insurer out of your premium, is the traditional model: the broker’s earnings sit inside the price you pay. Explicit fees, charged to you directly for arranging or administering cover, often appear alongside commission, as arrangement fees, adjustment fees and renewal fees. And some commercial brokers work on agreed fees instead of commission entirely, common on larger business accounts. None of these is improper. The cost of the broker is simply located in different places, and comparing brokers means finding it.

What you can ask, and what they must say

FCA rules require brokers to be clear about fees before you commit, and a commercial customer can ask a broker to disclose the commission it earns on a policy. Ask. A broker confident in its value answers the commission question without drama; evasion on remuneration is itself information. Every fee the broker itself charges should be visible in writing before you buy, not discovered on the renewal invoice.

Why the cheapest premium is not the comparison

A broker’s work shows up in the cover matching the risk, in mid-term changes handled, and in claims fought. A saved £100 on premium is spent many times over on the claim an aggregator policy does not pay. Compare brokers on what they checked about your business, what the policy excludes, and who handles the claim, then on price.

Broker, IFA, comparison site

The three get mixed together in search results and AI answers, and they are different jobs with different FCA permissions. A broker arranges insurance and advises on it. An IFA advises on investments, pensions and protection. A comparison site introduces, without advice. The FCA Financial Services Register records which a firm actually is; check the firm reference number before comparing anything else.

The questions that protect you

What is your firm reference number? How are you paid on my policy, commission, fees, or both, and what are your own fees in writing? Who handles my claim? What did you decline to quote and why? A broker worth the name answers all four, and the answers are the real price list.

Corrections and right of reply

If your business is named in this research and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk. We check it against the register, correct it within five working days if we are wrong, and publish your statement alongside if you want us to. Full route: corrections, right of reply and removals.

Questions

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Whito is an independent UK research publisher. We publish research on how UK businesses are found, trusted and priced: what they cost to market, how their sectors work, and who actually gets recommended. Studies are free to read, every figure carries the date it was checked, and nobody pays to appear.

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