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Insurance placing broker: Job description and activities

A placing broker is responsible for the negotiation of insurance cover for insurance 'risks', which can range from commercial businesses to oil rigs, from aeroplanes to professional footballers. The potential cost of an insurance claim can be enormous, so it is usual for a number of underwriters to take a proportion of the risk. Once a client makes a request to have a particular risk insured, the role of the placing broker involves working towards securing sufficient underwriters to cover 100% of the risk.

Typical work activities include:

• visiting the appropriate underwriters in Lloyd's of London and the London insurance market;
• discussing the premium to be paid and the terms of the insurance cover to be provided;
• developing and maintaining good working relationships with underwriters;
• producing and managing detailed and often complex factual information.

Placing brokers need an appreciation of the risk for which they are securing insurance cover so they can appropriately inform the underwriters and encourage them to provide the required cover.

For more information see Insurance broker.

AGCAS

Written by Alison Brown, University of Sussex

Last updated:

October 2008

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