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The Short Answer

A broker of record letter is a one-page form that names which agency represents you with a specific insurance company. It is not an application. It is not a request for a quote. It does one thing: it moves control of that carrier's file to whichever agency is named on it.

That sounds small. It is not. If a quote is already in progress with that carrier, the agency that built it loses access the moment the letter is processed. The quote goes with the file.

If someone hands you one during a shopping process, call the Grit team at (801) 505-5500 before you sign. It takes about thirty seconds to tell you what it will do.

What the Document Is Called

It shows up under several names, and they all do the same thing:

  • Broker of record letter, or BOR
  • Agent of record letter, or AOR
  • Letter of appointment

Some carriers have their own branded version. Some use the standard ACORD form. The title on the page does not change what it does.

What Happens the Moment It Is Signed

Almost all carriers will only work with one agency at a time on a given account. It keeps them from quoting the same business twice and getting played off against themselves. So when a broker of record letter is processed:

  • The named agency gets control of that carrier's file
  • The previous agency loses access, including to work already in progress
  • Any quote that agency built is now available to the new agency
  • None of this requires the previous agency's agreement, or even their knowledge

That last point is the one that surprises people. There is no confirmation step. No one calls to check that you meant it.

Why It Catches Good People Off Guard

The document is short. It is usually presented as paperwork you need to sign so someone can take a look at your options or get you a competing number. Nothing about it looks consequential. It is often the least impressive-looking page in the stack.

Meanwhile the work it transfers is the opposite of small. A commercial submission is payroll and class code detail, loss history, ownership and officer information, supplemental applications, and a lot of back and forth with an underwriter to get a real number on the page. Weeks of it, sometimes.

Here is the version that lands with the contractors we work with.

You bid a roof. You drive out, get on it, measure it, check the deck, price the tear-off and the materials, and put a real number in front of the owner. Then another roofer takes your bid and does the job off of it. He never climbed the roof. He never did the takeoff. He just used yours.

That is what a broker of record letter does to an insurance submission.

What It Does Not Do

This is the part that matters just as much, and it is where we want to be straight with you.

A broker of record letter does not lock you into anything. It is not a contract for services. You are free to shop your insurance, and you are free to work with whoever you want. If another agency brings you a better number from a carrier we could not get to, you should take it. That is how this is supposed to work.

Another agency does not need a broker of record letter to compete with us. They can build their own submission, go to their own markets, and bring you their own quote. Plenty of them do exactly that, and we have lost accounts that way fair and square.

The only thing a broker of record letter does that a competing submission does not is hand over work someone else already did. That is the distinction worth understanding before you sign one.

Can It Be Undone?

Sometimes. Not always, and not on your schedule.

The process is a rescinding letter, sometimes called a release, signed by you and sent back to the carrier. The carrier decides whether to accept it. They are not required to. Some will, some will not, and some have a window that closes.

So the honest answer is that it is worth trying and it is not worth counting on. It is much easier to not sign the letter than to unwind it.

What to Do if Someone Asks You to Sign One

You do not need to be rude about it, and you do not need to decide on the spot.

  1. Ask what the document is. "Is this a broker of record letter?" is a fair question, and any straight answer is fine.
  2. Ask which carrier it names. A broker of record letter is carrier-specific. It matters a great deal which file is moving.
  3. Call whoever is currently working on your quote before you sign, and ask what it will do. Any agency worth working with will tell you plainly.
  4. Decide after that, not before.

If Grit is the one working your account, that call is (801) 505-5500. We will tell you what the document does even if the answer is that you should sign it. Occasionally it is.

Where We Stand

We would rather earn the account than hold it with paperwork. If you want to shop, go shop. Bring us the number and we will tell you honestly whether we can beat it.

What we ask is that anyone competing for your business does it with their own work, and that you know what you are signing before you sign it, because the person handing you the form may not explain it.

Questions about a document someone has put in front of you: call the Grit team at (801) 505-5500, or start a conversation here.

 Has someone put a form in front of you?

 Call the Grit team at (801) 505-5500 and we will tell you exactly what it does, even if the answer is that you should sign it. No pressure either way.