Motor Broker or direct

My car insurance is soon up for renewal, my current insurer is britton insurance the broker, so its actually through Willis which is through Asgard/Lloyds.
They were looking for a massive increase so I checked everyone and Allianz came back with the best quote, Britton got the insurer to match this price, both policies are comprehensive and have pretty much all included (including no claims protection), apart from a few differences they seem quite similar.
Zurich also quoted a very similar price so they would also be an option.


So I was wondering what are peoples opinions on this, I've been with britton a few years and had no real problems but never had to make a claim, if in the event of a claim would it be any easier/more beneficial to deal with Allianz/Zurich than a broker?

Or is it more or less the same? do any of these companies have a particularly good/bad history?


Thanks for any opinions.

It's more or less the same. Although check with the broker how much their fee is. Some charge for placing the business with the insurer. So they may be able to reduce it even more.

Whether to use a broker or not is a personal choice. Some prefer to have the broker so they can deal with claims etc without having to use a call centre. Some like to be able to go into an office which isn't always available when you deal with a bigger insurer directly.

I think if you've been with someone a few years with no problems and there is no price difference, then better the devil you know.

If you have a good knowledge then you can go direct to the company. You can also tell your broker that you are getting cheaper quote then what they are offering so they may lower down your cost a bit.

You can try some other companies as well as online quotes are free if costs.

IME some brokers are open to bit of horse-trading, the "direct insurers", brokers and tied agents seem not to be.Here's a few samples I got for my renewal (end of August)

Current broker (RSA, broker) ,€350 comp, no Bonus protection - Jim you must try harder 3 years with ye and I'm now moving away
TESCO (RSA, broker), €300 comp. no bonus protection, €500 excess
AonInsure (RSA & Kennco, broker), €320 comp, step-back protection, €250 excess
MunsterGroup (Ennis, Broker) €330 documentation received gives no indication of benefits or level of cover (binned)
AXA €568, comp, bonus protection, €250 excess (binned)
123.ie (RSA) €375, comp extra, step-back protection, €300 excess
First Ireland (broker) €381, comp, bonus protection, €250 excess
FBD €410, comp, no other details.

Guess who got the business?

I hope to god for your sake it wasnt Kennco!!