What’s the Difference Between Captive Agents and Independent Insurance Agents?

Captive agents are insurance agents that are employed by one company and only insure their clients with that company. And example of a captive agent is a State Farm agent.  When you obtain an insurance quote from a captive agent, all your coverages will be placed with that same company.

An independent agent on the other hand, is more of an independent contractor, so they can write insurance with many different insurance companies.

When you request an insurance quote from an independent agent, they may provide you with quotes from several different companies. If you quote your home and auto insurance with an independent insurance agent, you may receive an auto and home quote from the same company, or they may even quote your home insurance with one company and your auto insurance with another company.

Independent agents have more flexibility in finding lower insurance rates, but captive agents also have advantages such as quicker turn around time on quotes since they only have to quote with one company.

Some independent agents may only write with one company, so in that case they are no different than a captive agent. When shopping for insurance, it’s always a good idea to contact both captive and independent agents to get the best price comparisons.

Tags: captive agents, independent agents, Insurance, insurance agent