How we chose
We started from the sixteen insurance brokers and advisers Google Maps shows in and around Telford. Authorisation was sourced from each firm's own site and memberships from the BIBA member check, alongside the platforms carrying customer reviews [1] [4] [8]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three. We looked first at what customers say, then proof of authorisation, then trading history and whether cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the broker to the job first. A general commercial broker trawls the market for business cover, a trade-credit specialist protects you against customers who do not pay, a haulage broker lives in trucks and fleets, and advice firms arrange protection alongside pensions or mortgages. A tied agent sells one insurer's policies, while an appointed representative acts under a named principal firm that carries the responsibility. Say which brief you are on the first call, and ask how wide the search runs.
Check authorisation before you share documents. Search the firm's name on the Financial Conduct Authority register and check the name and number on screen match the business you are hiring [1]. A directly authorised firm answers to the regulator itself, while an appointed representative acts under a named principal, so note the principal's name from the firm's own site. Then match the company number and address at Companies House to the firm on your quote [8].
Check trade membership where it is claimed. Brokers are not required to join the British Insurance Brokers' Association, so a missing membership proves nothing — but a claimed one should check out on BIBA's member-check tool [4]. If you have an unusual risk, from flood-exposed property to an awkward trade, BIBA's find-an-insurance service will point you to a specialist broker [3]. Ask what specialist schemes the broker can actually reach, not just which logos sit on the site.
Tell a Telford broker what the borough puts in front of you. Homes in the Severn Gorge conservation area, and the Wellington and Newport conservation areas, face tighter planning rules, with an Article 4 Direction removing some permitted development rights inside the Gorge [11]. Listed buildings in Ironbridge, older houses in Wellington, Dawley and Madeley, and new-build estates in Lawley each rebuild differently, so give the broker the age, construction and any listed status before it prices buildings cover. Ground along the Severn at Ironbridge, Jackfield and Coalport sits inside a flood warning area [12], so riverside postcodes should expect flood questions; run the free long-term flood check for the postcode and share the result [12]. Haulage and manufacturing firms around the Stafford Park, Halesfield and Hortonwood estates should brief the broker on fleet lists, operating centres and export customers in the same first call. Businesses moving premises or changing use should settle the planning position with the council before binding cover on the new address, and tell the broker about any pending application.
Settle how the broker is paid before any search starts. Most brokers take commission included in the premium, which is why shopping around costs you no fee, and the broker must tell you before any contract whether it works on a fee, on commission, or on both [2] [10]. Where a fee applies, get its amount and timing in writing. If you are buying as a business, you can ask for the commission figure in cash terms and the broker must disclose it in writing [5].
A typical search moves through four stages. It opens with a needs conversation by phone or form, covering what you do, what you own, any past claims and the date cover must start. The broker then searches its panel or the wider market, usually returning with follow-up questions, so reply promptly and in full. Written quotes arrive next for side-by-side comparison. Once you accept one, the broker places the cover, collects payment or arranges finance, and the schedule follows with the complaints route.
Insist on a written quote you can compare line by line: the insurer's name, what is covered and what is excluded, the cover limits, the excess you carry on each section, the premium with tax shown separately, any broker fee, the policy term and renewal date, and what happens if you cancel mid-term. A lower premium with a large excess and tight exclusions can cost more than a higher one when you claim, so compare the whole shape of the cover rather than the headline price alone.
End with the paperwork in one folder. Keep the written quote, the policy schedule, the fee agreement and every payment receipt together, and note the firm's complaints route, since an unresolved complaint can go to the Financial Ombudsman, a free service [9]. Tell your broker promptly about claims and about changes such as new premises, staff or vehicles, since an undisclosed change can sink a claim. Free consumer help with a trader dispute sits with Citizens Advice [7].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026 there are no fixed job prices in this trade, because brokers price the risk, not the hour. Most brokers in this round take commission included in the premium, so the search itself costs you no fee, and the round's leader offers a free tailored quotation with no added fees [2]. Firms here publish no fee menus at all, so treat the written quote as the price and agree the pay route before the search starts.
If you buy as a business, ask for the commission figure in cash terms: the broker must disclose what it and any associate receives for your policy, in writing [5]. Expect tax on top of the premium: Insurance Premium Tax runs at a standard rate of 12% on most general insurance, with a higher 20% on travel, appliance and some vehicle cover, unchanged since June 2017 [6]. Ask whether each quote includes the tax or adds it.
The risk moves the premium most. Higher cover limits, a lower excess, past claims, and a trade the insurer rates as risky all push it up, while a clean claims record and a higher voluntary excess pull it down. For commercial cover, turnover, wage bill, vehicle numbers and named drivers feed the calculation, and for property the postcode and flood exposure matter. Give every broker the same facts so the quotes stay comparable.
Get the money terms in writing. None of the ten firms in this round publishes a fee or VAT position, so ask whether any fee includes VAT or adds it on top, when it falls due, and what mid-term changes, late payments or cancellation would add. A fee added to premium finance gathers interest like the rest of the borrowing, so only agree to that in writing after seeing the full cost. Keep every quote, schedule and receipt where you can find them at renewal.
For home cover there is a national anchor to set beside the quote: combined buildings and contents averaged £375 across the first quarter of 2026, in the ABI tracker of prices actually paid [13]. Your own figure moves with rebuild cost, postcode and flood exposure, and claims history, so treat the average as context and the written quote as the price.
For business, fleet and trade-credit cover there is no published average to lean on, since each risk is priced on its own facts. Hauliers should expect the mix of vehicles, the goods carried and the operating radius to move the figure, while credit buyers should expect customer spread and export share to do the same. Advice firms here publish no fee menus, so the first illustration is where the cost of protection advice appears.
Red flags
Cannot give you an FCA reference number that matches the firm on the public register [1].
Will not say whether the search covers the whole market, a panel of insurers or a single company.
Refuses the commission figure in cash terms when a business customer asks for it [5].
Recommends cover without asking about your claims history, sums insured or existing policies.
Presses you to bundle life or protection cover alongside the policy to keep the deal.
Takes payment with no written quote, terms or complaints route on paper.
Sends policy documents naming a different insurer or cover from the one you agreed.
Will not put the insurer's name, the limits or the excess in writing before you pay.
Asks for payment into a personal account rather than the firm's business account.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.