A car insurance agent is a person who works on your behalf to help with insurance and arrange car insurance for you. Car insurance agents are generally independent and don't work for any particular insurance company. Instead, they use their experience and knowledge to search around for suitable car insurance deals for you and negotiate with various insurers on your behalf as an independent contractor. This type of car insurance agent is known as a broker and there are various car insurance brokers out there and all of them have the same basic tasks in common - they are selling car cover to the public and helping people find the right policy to meet their requirements.
A broker works with a number of different companies to find you the cheapest and most suitable coverage for you. They do this by taking the time to research the different options available to you and contacting the different companies to find out the quotes they can offer you. Once they have done this research, they then contact their chosen insurers to find out if they have any suitable deals available. These car insurance brokers will then put their findings together in a report and submit it to the insurance company for approval. The insurance company then offers the quotes that they have received back to the broker then goes through this information with you and suggests that policy would be best for you and your particular circumstances. You then take the recommended policy up to the Department for Work and Pensions to check that the premiums you will have to pay will meet the minimum standard.
However, there are also specialist car insurers out there and car insurance broker is able to negotiate cheaper premiums for their customers because they already have contacts with many different insurance companies. If you have insurance through one of these specialist car insurers, then you will not have to contact your insurance company directly. You will instead be able to contact your specialist car insurer and ask them for a quote. As a result, the cost of insurance will often be lower than if you were to buy directly from the car insurer.