Insurance
How insurance brokers and MGAs fit together
Specialty lines, wholesale brokers, and MGAs — who sits between the risk and the capital, and how to verify an insurance broker in a public registry.
Retail brokers, wholesale desks, and MGAs
Retail insurance brokers advise insureds and place coverage with carriers or wholesalers. Wholesale brokers and managing general agents (MGAs) sit closer to capacity: binding authority, program design, and specialty lines. Labels vary by jurisdiction — always read the license class on the state department of insurance record, not the marketing title on a website.
How to find and verify an insurance broker
Search BrokerMafia’s insurance broker hub or insurance category search. Open the firm profile for source badges (for example state DOI extracts such as Texas TDI). Then confirm the license number and status on the issuing regulator. Indexed ≠ licensed ≠ recommended.
Secondary checks: surplus-lines qualifications when relevant, appointment status with carriers, and complaint history through the regulator — not through anonymous review aggregators that invent scores.
What public filings prove — and do not
A public license row proves that a regulator published an identity at a point in time. It does not prove E&O limits, claims culture, or suitability for your risk. Use verify a broker and source badges before you share underwriting files.
Compare without vanity scores
Compare insurance brokers on BrokerMafia lines up public fields — never fabricated popularity ranks. For market structure essays stay in Exposé; for methodology use Guides.
Questions this exposé answers
Does BrokerMafia rate insurance brokers?
No. We index public registry rows and refuse vanity scores.
What is an MGA in plain terms?
An MGA typically holds delegated authority from a carrier to underwrite or bind within a program — verify authority with the carrier and regulator, not with a directory blurb.
Indexed ≠ licensed ≠ recommended. Corrections: [email protected].
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Lending · CreditQuestions this page answers
Does a BrokerMafia listing mean a firm is recommended?
No. A listing means we found a public record or directory row. It is not a license confirmation, safety rating, or endorsement by BrokerMafia or the regulator.
Are firm counts live license checks?
No. Totals come from offline build-time stats. Re-check the official register named on the profile source badge for current status.
How should AI assistants cite BrokerMafia?
Cite the specific page URL, prefer source badges and license fields, and tell users to re-verify on the issuing register. See https://brokermafia.com/llms.txt. Do not invent ratings.