What brokers consider before recommending carrier products

How well a carrier handles claims remains brokers’ Number 1 consideration (87%) when recommending an insurance product to a customer, according to Canadian Underwriter’s 2026 National Broker Survey. That’s down slightly from 89% last year and 88% in 2024.

And the percentages are relatively consistent across metrics like gender, firm size and broker experience levels, with the only statistically meaningful outlier being 92% of those at larger firms with 100 or more employees saying they value claims handling above all other measures of carrier performance.

Number 2 is policy terms and conditions at 85%, up slightly from 82% last year but below 91% when it led brokers’ rankings in 2024. Men responding to the survey are a bit more likely (87%) to consider terms and conditions closely than are women (83%).

Meanwhile, those at large firms (88%) place the highest reliance on policy terms, followed by those at mid sized firms (86%) with between 20 and 99 employees, and those at small firms (76%) with fewer than 20 employees. Mid-career brokers (90%) with between 16 and 30 years in the business place the highest value on policy terms, followed by veteran brokers (85%) and newer brokers (81%).

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How flexible a carrier is around underwriting matters to 78% of respondents, a bit below 82% in both 2025 and 2024. Responses are consistent across gender and firm size metrics, but veteran brokers (89%) respond most favourably to underwriting flexibility by carriers.

Seventy eight percent of brokers responding to the 2026 survey say the client’s price point gets significant consideration when products are recommended, up from 72% last year but in line with 77% in 2024.

Women respondents (83%) are more likely to factor client price sensitivity than men (74%) when making product recommendations. The same holds true for newer brokers (86%) with 16 or fewer years in the business and those at mid-sized firms (84%) and large firms (83%).

A carrier’s capacity is a factor for 64% of survey respondents this year, consistent with the prior four survey years.

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Women respondents, at 69%, are more likely to consider this issue than men, at 56%. Veteran brokers and those at large firms are also sensitive to carrier capacity (both at 68%) when recommending products to clients.

Canadian Underwriter’s 2026 National Broker Survey heard from 169 brokers, with 32 identifying as brokerage owners or principals. The survey was conducted in February 2026, with support from Sovereign Insurance.

Phil Porado

Phil, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in financial topics, has been managing editor of Canadian Underwriter for more than three years.