Managing General Agent.
Direct answer. A managing general agent is an intermediary that performs functions for an insurer under a contractual grant of authority. The actual authority may include underwriting, binding, policy issuance, premium administration, or claims functions, but the label MGA does not reveal the scope of authority for a particular program.
Follow the function, not the label.
An MGA acts for one or more insurers within delegated contractual authority and may operate as the underwriting market for a specific program.
A company name or market label never proves appointment, activation, route, quote authority, bind authority, or servicing authority. The exact desk and transaction role control.
Signals worth verifying.
Authority signals
- Named carrier or syndicate
- Executed delegated-authority agreement
- Defined products, states, limits, and referral rules
- Authorized submission, quote, bind, and policy workflow
Access questions
- Which insurer supplies the paper?
- What underwriting or binding authority is delegated?
- Does the MGA accept retail or wholesale submissions for this program?
- What states, classes, limits, and referral rules apply?
What does not prove access.
- The MGA label by itself
- A general company appointment
- A different program operated by the same firm
- A wholesaler-owned desk that is not acting as the underwriting program
Primary reference: WSIA insurance market membership criteria
Use Hedge's actual route.
Check the public appetite layer for directional class guidance. Use the authenticated broker portal, API, or MCP connector for current brokerage-scoped data and reviewable actions.