Section 8 Who Do Brokers Represent?

• Library: Prof Liability 2005

An insurance broker is generally deemed to be the agent of those for whom insurance is procured. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. v. Drew, 978 S.W.2d 386, 394 (Mo. App. E.D. 1998); Weekly v. Mo. Prop. Ins. Placement Facility, 538 S.W.2d 375, 379 (Mo. App. E.D. 1976). But whether an insurance broker is the agent of an insurer or of the insured in a given circumstance depends on the facts of each particular case. The broker may be the agent of just one, or the broker may be the agent of the insurer for a certain purpose and of the insured for another purpose. Buck v. Stuyvesant Ins. Co. of City of New York, 237 S.W. 840, 841 (Mo. App. E.D. 1922). Even though a broker is generally the agent of the one for whom insurance is procured, it has also been recognized that special conditions or circumstances in a particular case may warrant a fair inference that the broker is the agent of the insurer. Schimmel Fur Co. v. Am. Indem. Co., 440 S.W.2d 932 (Mo. 1969).

The rule, as stated in Travelers...