Retail and specialist brokers
Your agent, not the insurer’s — they shop the market and argue your claim.
How cover is placed
A broker takes your risk to markets it has access to, negotiates terms, and places the cover. In most jurisdictions the broker acts for you, which is what distinguishes it from an agent acting for an insurer — worth confirming, because the duty determines whose interests come first.
Who carries the risk
Whichever insurer or syndicate the broker places the risk with. The broker carries professional liability for the advice and the placement, not the cargo risk itself.
Typical line size
Whatever the markets they access will write, from single certificates to global programmes.
Strengths
- Market access you do not have directly, including Lloyd’s
- Advice on sum insured, clause level and contract requirements
- Argues declined and disputed claims on your behalf
- Can structure a programme across entities and jurisdictions
Trade-offs
- Commission or fee sits in the chain — ask which, and how much
- Service quality varies enormously between firms
- Not instant: a placement is a conversation, not a checkout
When to look here first
Anyone with a complex risk, a disputed claim, a contractual cover requirement to interpret, or enough volume that terms are negotiable.
How a claim is handled
The broker presents and pursues the claim. On a contested loss this is the single biggest practical difference between buying direct and buying through a broker.
What filing a claim involves →Other channels
Syndicates subscribing to a risk through a broker, with capacity for the awkward and the very large.
Balance-sheet insurers writing cargo directly or through brokers, on their own paper and wording.
Underwriting on delegated authority from an insurer — the channel behind most instant cargo cover.
This page describes how the cargo market is structured. It names no insurer and asserts no relationship between InsuranceScanner and any market — we have no published panel yet. Nothing here is a recommendation that a particular channel or cover is suitable for you; see the Terms for our role.