The channel matters less than the service behind it. A local broker office and a national brokerage both arrange cover on your instructions and can advise on your own business. An online platform or quote site commonly works on general advice, built from the answers you type in. When you weigh insurance broker vs online, ask each one five things: is the advice general or personal, who reads my lease and contracts, who runs a claim, where does a complaint go, and how are you paid.
Three ways a small business buys cover
Most small businesses in Australia buy their insurance through one of three channels.
- A local broker office. A small team you can visit, mostly working for businesses in its own area. Many local offices act as authorised representatives under a larger firm’s Australian financial services licence.
- A national brokerage. A large firm with offices in several states, often with specialist teams for particular trades or for large property and liability programs.
- An online platform or quote site. You answer questions on a website, see prices from one or more insurers side by side, then buy and pay online. Some platforms are brokers in their own right, some are authorised representatives, and some sell for a single insurer.
The line between the first two is thinner than it looks. A local office may sit inside a national licence, and a branch of a national firm may run much like a local office. What changes from one to the next is who you deal with, how closely they look at your business, and what they do when something goes wrong.
General advice or personal advice?
Ask this first, because it decides who carries the job of matching the policy to your business. Moneysmart describes general advice as a recommendation or opinion about a financial product that is not tailored to your personal circumstances. A provider giving it must warn you that it does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs, and should prompt you to consider whether the product suits you before you act. Personal advice, in Moneysmart’s words, is tailored to your personal circumstances.
On an online platform the general advice warning usually sits on the quote page or in the documents. It tells you the platform is giving you prices and product information, and the decision about what the business needs stays with you. A broker who takes your details and recommends cover for your business is generally giving personal advice. Know which one you are getting, because with general advice nobody else has checked that the policy fits.
Who reads your lease, contracts and the policy wording?
Many small business policies are bought because a lease, a head contractor or a client contract demands them. Those documents set liability limits, ask for the landlord or principal to be noted on the policy, and sometimes require cover that a standard wording does not give. A quote form asks for your turnover and occupation. It does not read the insurance clause in your lease.
A local office and a national brokerage can both check those documents against the wording. Ask who will actually do it, and whether you will deal with the same person at renewal. On an online platform that check is yours to make. If the contract is short and asks for a common public liability limit, it may take you ten minutes. If the contract is long, or you are unsure what an exclusion means for your trade, hand it to someone whose job it is.
When there is a claim, and when there is a complaint
On a claim, the insurer decides. What changes between channels is who sits beside you. A broker who arranged the cover commonly lodges the claim, deals with the insurer’s assessor and chases delays. Online platforms differ: some help with claims, others pass you straight to the insurer’s claims team. Find out before you buy, not after the fire.
For a complaint, start with the firm you dealt with. The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) says on its small business page to contact your financial firm first, and that its own service is free. It treats an organisation with fewer than 100 employees as a small business. The same page says AFCA cannot consider cover for public liability, products liability, professional indemnity or industrial special risks under a small business insurance product. On those covers the outside route is narrower, so getting the wording right at the start counts for more.
How each is paid, and how to check the licence
Brokers and online platforms are commonly paid by commission from the insurer, a fee from you, or both. Our article on insurance broker vs buying direct covers how that works and what to ask for in writing, so we will not repeat it here.
Checking the licence takes a few minutes. ASIC describes its Authorised Representative Register as a public record of the representatives authorised to provide financial services on behalf of a licensee. It shows each representative’s status, the licensee it is associated with, and whether it can sub-authorise others, and you search it through ASIC’s Professional Registers. Look up the firm named on your quote, whether it is a local office, a national brokerage or a platform, and see who stands behind it.
Which one suits which business
An online platform suits a simple, common risk: a sole trader who needs a standard public liability limit for a site induction and knows what the certificate must show. A local broker office suits an owner who wants to sit down with the same person each year, bring the lease and contracts, and have one contact when a claim comes in. A national brokerage suits a business trading in several states, or a risk that needs a specialist team, such as a large property schedule or a hard to place trade.
What FRS does: FRS is a local broker office in Box Hill and Hawthorn. We act as an authorised representative under a national licensee’s Australian financial services licence, and the licence details are at the foot of every page on this site. We take your business details, read the lease and contracts you send us, arrange cover on your instructions and help with the claim if one comes. Our team also speaks Mandarin; see our Chinese speaking insurance broker page.
To see how we set up a business program, start with our business insurance broker page.
Frequently asked questions
Is an online insurance platform the same as a broker?
Sometimes. An online platform or quote site may hold its own licence, act as an authorised representative of a licensee, or sell for a single insurer. Its documents and ASIC’s Professional Registers show who stands behind it. What matters more is whether it gives personal advice on your business or general advice built from the answers you enter on the form.
Is a local broker office part of a bigger network?
Often. Many local broker offices act as authorised representatives under a larger firm’s Australian financial services licence. ASIC’s Authorised Representative Register shows each representative’s status and the licensee it is associated with. FRS works this way, and the licence details are printed at the foot of every page on this site.
Can I complain to AFCA about a broker or online platform?
Yes, if the firm is an AFCA member, after you have raised it with the firm first. AFCA says its service is free and treats an organisation with fewer than 100 employees as a small business. Its small business page also lists covers it cannot consider under a small business insurance product, including public liability and professional indemnity.
What should I ask before buying business insurance online?
Ask whether the advice is general or personal, what happens to the insurance requirements in your lease or contracts, who handles a claim, how the firm is paid and where a complaint goes. If the answers fit a simple risk you understand, buying online can be enough. On the insurance broker vs online question, the answers decide it, not the logo.
Questions about your own cover? Call 03 7046 3766 on weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm, or send us an enquiry.
