Carrier
The insurer bears the insurance risk under the policy. Identify the legal insurer, not just a program brand.
Read about carriersInsurance market guide
Wholesale Insurance Broker.
A wholesale insurance broker is an intermediary that helps a retail producer access specialty or surplus lines markets and structure difficult placements. A wholesale broker is not the risk-bearing carrier.
Transaction role
Follow the function, not the label.
The wholesale broker represents the placement process between the retail producer and underwriting markets, subject to licensing, market access, and the agreed transaction role.
Confirm the responsibility
Ask who can quote, who can bind, who issues the policy and who handles service. Those responsibilities depend on the specific agreement and program, not just the company label.
Practical broker checklist
Making a wholesale submission useful
- Explain the placement objective, difficult facts, target effective date and markets already approached.
- Provide a consistent application, schedules and current losses so the wholesaler can assess the appropriate underwriting route.
- Agree on the communication owner and the process for reviewing quotes, binding requests and policy documents.
An illustrative account
A retail agent has already approached two insurers. Include those approaches and the responses with the new submission to avoid duplicated work and let the wholesale broker focus on suitable remaining options.
This is a hypothetical preparation example, not an actual placement or a promise of coverage.
Compare the related managing general agent roleThe roles in one placement
Who does what?
MGA or MGU
A delegated underwriting business may evaluate and accept accounts within the insurer's agreed authority. The labels overlap; the agreement determines the scope.
Read about MGAsRead about MGUsWholesale broker
The intermediary helps the retail agent prepare and place the account with an underwriting market. A brokerage role alone does not confer underwriting authority.
Read about wholesale brokersEvidence
Signals worth verifying.
Authority signals
- Licensed wholesale or surplus lines role
- Direct or authorized market access
- Clear retail-broker relationship
- Documented submission, quote, bind, and servicing responsibilities
Access questions
- Is this firm acting as an intermediary or as an in-house delegated underwriting market?
- Who is the actual carrier, MGA, MGU, or program underwriter?
- Who owns the retail relationship and submission?
- What quote, bind, filing, and servicing responsibilities apply?
False confidence
What does not prove access.
- A wholesale label on a hybrid company
- An underwriting contact housed within a brokerage group
- A public submission inbox
- A market result routed through another producer
Primary reference: WSIA wholesale value
Next action
Discuss the account with Hedge.
Start with the operations, location, requested coverage and the facts making placement difficult. Check appetite or send the account through Hedge's secure submission process for review.