How are intermediaries paid for their work?

Anyone who performs a professional service is usually entitled to payment for their work. The forms of payment vary between insurance intermediaries and depend on the market segment. The insurance intermediary can provide services to both the customer and the insurer and is entitled to receive payment from both parties.
Usually the intermediary receives payment from the mediated product, but it is also common for the customer and the intermediary to agree on payment in another manner.
In certain areas of the insurance market, the form of payment is often the result of a negotiation between the intermediary and the customer.
The insurance intermediary and the customer agree on the form of payment, but if no special agreement is reached, then a standard payment from the product usually applies.
 
Commission
The intermediary's payment is often paid as commission and is included in the insurance premium. Payment includes the intermediary's work with marketing, mediation, service and ongoing customer contact. Such work otherwise would fall to the insurance company, and so the premium that the customer pays for the insurance is therefore the same as if the customer were to buy the policy directly from the insurance company. Commission is only paid if a transaction is completed, for example, if an insurance contract is concluded.
 
Openness
The intermediary is required by law to report the price of the mediation. This means that the customer must be informed about the commission that the intermediary will receive based on the insurance solution that the customer chooses. This may include payment, for example, for mediation of investment assets, kick backs in funds etc. Intermediaries must report earnings on their own initiative and without the customer needing to request the information.
 
Fee
The intermediary and the customer can agree that the intermediary's assignment will be paid for entirely or in part by a fee. The size of the fee should be agreed upon in advance. If a fee is charged, the premium is usually lowered in correspondence with the size of the commission. Also, some insurance companies do not pay commission to insurance intermediaries. In such cases, the premium is usually lowered by an amount corresponding to normal commission and the intermediary is paid by a fee from the customer. Payment by fee is most common when services and products are less standardized and the link between product and advice is weaker. Contracts are usually continuous and relate to services, include risks that require special conditions, management of insurance contracts, assistance with claims etc. As a rule, payment by fee is significantly more expensive than payment by commission for lower premiums, as is usually the case with consumer insurance.