Formally recognized broker authorized to represent the account with the insurer or market.
A broker of record is the broker or brokerage that the client has authorized to represent the insurance account with the insurer or market.
This term matters because servicing rights, market communication, and account control often depend on who is recognized as the broker of record. A client may think changing brokers is just a conversation, but insurers and markets usually need a formal change in representation before they will treat the new broker as the account’s authorized intermediary.
In Canadian insurance practice, the broker of record concept appears most often when a client moves an account from one brokerage to another, especially in commercial insurance. The client may sign a broker-of-record letter or follow another formal process so the insurer or market knows which broker is authorized to service the account, receive documents, and negotiate the placement.
The concept sits on the distribution side of the market rather than the coverage side. Changing broker of record does not automatically change the policy wording, the insurer’s underwriting decision, or the actual risk-bearing carrier. It changes who represents the client in relation to that policy or marketing process.
The term is also useful because it clarifies the difference between a general insurance broker and the broker who currently controls the active relationship on the account. A client may speak with several brokers while shopping, but only one will normally be recognized by the market as broker of record for the active placement at a given time.
A business is dissatisfied with renewal handling and appoints a new brokerage before the next renewal cycle. The new brokerage submits the required broker-of-record documentation so the insurer and markets recognize that the account should now be serviced through the new broker rather than the prior broker.
Broker of record is not the same as the insurer. The broker represents the account in the market, but the insurer still decides whether to quote, renew, or change terms.
It is also wrong to assume that appointing a new broker instantly rewrites the policy. The appointment affects representation and servicing, not the contract by itself.
The exact process can vary by insurer, market, province, and timing in the renewal cycle. Some accounts are straightforward to transfer, while others involve market-blocking issues or timing complications.