Yes, private medical insurance brokers in the UK get paid. On a typical personal policy the payment is commission from the insurer, built into the premium you are quoted rather than billed to you as a separate item; some firms bill you a fee, alone or alongside commission. Whichever it is, the FCA's rules make the firm tell you before you buy. If you are weighing up whether to use a broker for your own cover, the enquiry form here gets you a free call-back from one, and how it is paid is a fair first question to put on that call.
How are medical insurance brokers paid? The three bases
The rules sort an insurance intermediary's pay into three kinds, and a firm can combine them. The same answer covers anyone you might call an agent, an adviser or a broker.
- Commission from the insurer. The insurer rewards the firm for arranging the policy, and the reward sits inside the premium.
- A fee from you. Paid by you directly, either replacing commission or added to it.
- Other benefits. Anything of economic value given in connection with the policy, which can mean bonuses and perks as well as money.
Which one applies is not left for you to guess, because the firm has to state it. The wording of that duty is set out in the next section.
The FCA rule on broker pay, word for word
The duty sits in the FCA Handbook's Insurance: Conduct of Business sourcebook (ICOBS), in ICOBS 4.3, its remuneration disclosure rules, which the Handbook shows as last updated on 1 October 2018 (read 21 October 2026). Rule ICOBS 4.3.-7R says that "In good time before the conclusion of the initial contract of insurance and, if necessary, on its amendment or renewal an insurance intermediary must provide the customer with information" on "the nature of the remuneration received in relation to the contract of insurance". It must also say whether it works on the basis of "a fee, that is remuneration paid directly by the customer", "a commission of any kind, that is the remuneration included in the premium", "any other type of remuneration, including an economic benefit of any kind offered or given in connection with the contract", or "a combination of any type of remuneration set out above".
Three points follow for a buyer. The information comes before the contract is concluded, not afterwards. Commission, by that definition, is money inside the premium, which is why no invoice arrives for it. And the duty can come back when a policy is amended or renewed, so the answer you get at the start need not be the last one.
Knowing the basis is the start; what it means for the quotes in front of you is the next step. A broker can explain that on a call-back, free of charge, setting the insurers it works with side by side for your circumstances.
Bonuses, targets and pay that arrives indirectly
The guidance asks firms to read "remuneration" widely. ICOBS 4.3.-3G says a firm "should include all remuneration which the insurance intermediary or the employee of an insurance undertaking receives, or may receive in relation to the distribution of the contract of insurance". That reaches pay "provided indirectly by the insurer or another firm within the distribution chain", and bonuses, financial or not, that depend on a target the particular policy could count towards. The examples given include "cash bonuses paid for achieving a sales target" and "profit share arrangements, overriders or other enhanced commissions".
Rule ICOBS 4.3.-5R closes the obvious gap: the remuneration covered "includes remuneration that is not guaranteed or which is contingent on meeting certain targets". A volume bonus a firm might or might not earn still counts. Guidance ICOBS 4.3.-4G adds that, taking into account the FCA's clear, fair and not misleading rule, the disclosure "should also include the source of the remuneration", so a firm should tell you who is paying as well as how.
Broker fees, and charges after the policy starts
Where a fee is involved, ICOBS 4.3.1R is specific: "Where a fee is payable, the firm must inform its customer of the amount of the fee", and it must do so "before the customer incurs liability to pay the fee, or before conclusion of the contract of insurance, whichever is earlier". If an amount cannot be given, the firm must give "the basis for its calculation".
That duty does not end at the sale. ICOBS 4.3.2R extends it "to all such fees that may be charged during the life of a policy". A separate rule, ICOBS 4.3.-2R, covers payments you make under the contract after it is concluded, other than ongoing premiums and scheduled payments, and requires the disclosures for each one; the guidance beside it, ICOBS 4.3.-1G, gives payments for "mid-term adjustments, administration fees and cancellation fees" as examples. The cost of changing or ending a policy is therefore part of the same conversation as the cost of starting one.
This site's part in the chain
A page about who gets paid should say where this site stands. It is not FCA-authorised and sells no insurance. What you enter in the form goes to a single broker, authorised by the FCA, which may pay us for the introduction; that amount is not published, so it cannot appear here. Using the form costs you nothing, and the broker who rings is a regulated firm like any other, so every question below is as fair to put to it as to anyone.
Questions to put to healthcare insurance brokers about their pay
- Who is paying you for this policy, and in what form? The rule requires the type of pay before you buy, and the guidance says the source should be given too.
- Does any of your pay depend on a target this policy counts towards? Contingent and target-linked pay is inside the disclosure, not outside it.
- What could I be charged over the life of the policy: to set it up, to change it mid-term, to cancel it? The fee rules follow the policy, not just the sale.
- If I amend or renew the policy, will you tell me again how you are paid? The duty can arise at both points.
- If we are buying for a business, what is the commission in pounds, in writing? A commercial customer can ask for the figure; see the short answers below.
Put the list to the broker who rings after you use the form, and weigh the answers as you would from any firm; the call-back is free.
Short answers on broker pay
How do health insurance agents get paid?
"Agent" is not one of the payment categories in the rule quoted above, which speaks of intermediaries. Whatever a firm calls itself, it has to say whether it works for a fee, a commission, some other benefit or a combination. The broker versus agent page covers the naming.
What percentage do health insurance brokers make?
No published rate exists for us to cite, and ICOBS 4.3 asks a firm for the nature and source of its commission rather than its size. A business buyer has a separate right to the amount, covered in the next answer. For a personal policy, you can still ask the broker who calls back what it earns on the cover it puts forward; the call costs you nothing.
Can a business ask a broker how much commission it earns?
Yes. ICOBS 4.4.1R (section last updated 6 January 2008, read 21 October 2026) says an insurance intermediary "must, on a commercial customer's request, promptly disclose the commission that it and any associate receives in connection with a policy", in "cash terms (estimated, if necessary)" and in writing or another durable medium, or the basis for calculation where that is not possible. An employer arranging cover for its staff is ordinarily buying as a commercial customer; the page on using a broker for small business health insurance covers choosing one.
How do independent health insurance agents get paid?
On the same bases: fee, commission, other benefits or a combination. The word "independent" does not change the disclosure, so ask the question anyway rather than relying on the label.
Do the insurers' own staff get paid commission too?
ICOBS 4.3.-6R requires an insurer, before a contract is concluded, to give its customer information on "the nature of the remuneration received by its employees in relation to the contract of insurance". Buying direct does not remove the question; it moves it to a different firm. Whether using a broker changes what you pay overall is a separate question, taken up on what a health insurance broker costs you.
What is a broker, and what does it actually do?
See what a health insurance broker is and does for the role itself; this page covers only the money.