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Negotiation service, broker, comparison site or do it yourself?
Five honest routes to a lower premium, what each one costs you, who pays the person doing the work — and a section on when you should not use us.
The five routes, side by side
These are categories, not verdicts on particular companies. How any individual agent, broker or platform is compensated and what it does with your details is set out in its own terms — ask, and read them.
| Route | Who does the work | How they are paid | What gets looked at | How often |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | You | Nothing | Whatever you have time to call. Your existing carrier included, if you ask the right questions. | Only if you remember, every renewal |
| Captive agent | An agent appointed by one insurer | Commission from that insurer | One company's products | At renewal, within that company |
| Independent agent or broker | A licensed agent representing several carriers | Commission from the carrier that writes you | The carriers they hold appointments with -- ask how many, it varies enormously | Varies by agent; ask |
| Quote-comparison site | You, guided by a form | Usually by insurers or agencies, for the enquiry or the placement -- their terms say which | The carriers that participate on that platform | Whenever you return and refill the form |
| AiM concierge negotiation | A negotiator working for you | 25% of first-year savings · $149 flat fee for new-policy placement · $0 if we find no savings | Your existing policy first, then a benchmark across 50+ carriers | Whenever you ask us to look again |
Doing it yourself
The strongest option on this page for anyone who will actually do it. It costs nothing, you keep every dollar you win, and the playbook is not secret — we have written the whole thing out in can you negotiate car insurance.
Where it wins
- You keep 100% of the savings.
- You learn your own policy, which pays off at every future renewal and at claim time.
- For a simple policy with a clean record, three phone calls covers most of the available ground.
Where it struggles
- Time. A proper review is a few hours per renewal, per policy, and it is a few hours nobody has in the week a renewal notice lands.
- Sample size. You will call the carriers you have heard of. The cheaper one is regularly a carrier you have not.
- Consistency. Almost nobody does this every year, and the erosion resumes the moment you stop.
A captive agent
An agent appointed by a single insurer, paid a commission by that insurer. This is the person whose name is on the office near your house.
Where it wins
- A named human who knows your file, which matters more at claim time than most people appreciate.
- Genuine expertise in one carrier's products, discounts and underwriting quirks -- including the tier placement most policyholders never hear about.
- Local, accountable, and free to you at the point of use.
Where it struggles
- One company's shelf. If that carrier has become uncompetitive for your profile, the best agent in the state cannot fix it.
- There is no incentive to tell you a rival is cheaper, because that conversation ends the relationship.
An independent agent or broker
Licensed, represents several carriers, and is usually paid a commission by whichever one writes the policy. For complex or unusual risks this is frequently the right answer, and we say so.
Where it wins
- Real choice across multiple carriers, with a licensed professional doing the placing.
- Licensed advice on coverage design -- which is something we are explicitly not permitted to give.
- The right route for hard-to-place risks: unusual vessels, aircraft, high-value or specialty exposures, prior losses, commercial exposure attached to a personal policy.
- Advocacy at claim time, which a comparison form cannot offer.
Where it struggles
- Reach varies enormously. "Independent" does not mean every carrier -- it means the ones they hold appointments with. It is a fair question to ask, and a good broker will answer it plainly.
- The incentive is to place a policy. Renegotiating the one you already have earns nothing, so it is rarely the first suggestion.
- Commission structures differ between carriers, which is worth understanding rather than being suspicious about.
Quote-comparison sites
The online quote platforms — The Zebra, Insurify, Jerry and others in that category. You fill in a form and see indicative prices from participating carriers within minutes, which is a genuinely useful thing that did not exist twenty years ago.
Where it wins
- Speed. A rough sense of the market in minutes, for free.
- Breadth of the initial scan, which makes them an excellent first step before any of the other routes on this page.
- No commitment, and no conversation required to get a number.
Where it struggles
- They compare new-business quotes. They do not renegotiate the policy you already hold, which is where a long-standing premium usually has the most room in it.
- Quoted prices are indicative until a carrier underwrites you; the final number can move.
- What happens to your details afterwards varies by platform and is set out in each one's terms -- some models are funded by passing the enquiry on, which is worth knowing before you submit.
- The output is a list. Someone still has to check that the limits match, that the cheap quote is not thin, and that the renewal price is not going to jump.
Use them, honestly
Running a comparison site before you talk to anyone — us included — is a good idea. It gives you a market anchor, and an anchor is what makes every subsequent conversation sharper.
A concierge negotiation service
What we do. We are not a carrier, we do not underwrite, bind or issue policies, and we hold no carrier appointments — the contract stays between you and your insurer. We read the policy you already have, correct what is wrong on it, press for the discounts and tier placement you qualify for, benchmark it against 50+ carriers, and put the options in front of you. You decide.
Where it wins
- It covers the route the other options mostly skip: repricing the policy you already hold, not just quoting a replacement.
- You are the client. Our fee comes out of savings we produce for you, so a result of "your policy is already competitive" costs you nothing to receive.
- It gets done. The single biggest determinant of whether a premium falls is whether anyone challenged it at all.
- Priced so the arithmetic is checkable rather than a leap of faith — see the full fee schedule.
Where it struggles
- We cannot give licensed coverage advice. If your question is "what should I be covered for", that is a broker's job, not ours.
- We are not instant. A proper review takes days, not the ninety seconds a comparison form takes.
- On a small premium, the process may not be worth either party's time.
- We do not hold your policy or handle your claims. Your carrier does.
When not to use us
This section converts better than pretending to be universally right, and it is also just true.
- Your policy was shopped properly in the last few months. There is unlikely to be much left in it. Ask us again at the renewal after next.
- You need coverage bound today. Call a licensed agent or the carrier directly. Negotiation takes days; a binder can take an hour.
- You need advice on what to be covered for. A licensed broker or your state insurance department, not us.
- Your risk is genuinely hard to place. Prior losses, an unusual vessel or aircraft, a commercial exposure sitting on a personal policy — a specialty broker with the right appointments will beat a negotiation on price and on getting it written at all.
- You have an open claim. Settle it first. Moving carriers mid-claim complicates something that is already complicated.
- You would enjoy doing it yourself. Then do. The whole method is on this page, free, and you keep every dollar.
Questions worth asking any of us
What is the difference between a negotiation service and an insurance broker?
A broker is licensed to sell you a policy and is usually paid a commission by the carrier that wins your business, which is a perfectly normal arrangement but means the broker earns when a policy is placed. A negotiation service is not a carrier and does not underwrite, bind or issue policies; AiM is paid by you, out of savings we produce, and works on the policy you already hold as well as on the market.
Are comparison sites free?
They are free to you at the point of use. Most are funded by selling the enquiry to insurers or agencies, or by earning a commission when a policy is bound -- their own terms and privacy policies set out which. That is worth reading before submitting, because the practical consequence for some sites is a period of calls and emails from multiple companies.
Can I use a negotiation service and keep my current agent?
Usually, yes. If your current policy stays where it is and simply gets repriced, nothing about your agent relationship needs to change. If the outcome is a move to a different carrier, that is your decision to make, and you can make it through your existing agent if you prefer.
Which option saves the most money?
Whichever one actually gets done. A thorough DIY review beats a service that is never engaged, and a service beats a DIY review that never happens because the renewal quietly auto-charged the card. The larger factor is not the route but whether the policy is challenged at all: premiums on policies nobody questions tend to drift upward year after year.
Do you get paid by insurance companies?
Our fee comes from you: 25% of first-year savings · $149 flat fee for new-policy placement · $0 if we find no savings. You pay your premium directly to the carrier -- AiM does not collect or remit premium payments. Any question about how a given provider is compensated is a fair one to ask any of them, including us.
Still think it is worth a look?
Send the declarations page. We will tell you what is in it, what the market says, and whether it is worth doing anything — within 24 hours, either way.
Takes 5 minutes · No card · $0 if no savings
25% of first-year savings · $149 flat fee for new-policy placement · $0 if we find no savings
Descriptions of agents, brokers and comparison platforms above are general characterizations of how those business models typically work, not statements about any particular company. Check any provider’s own terms, licensing and privacy policy before you use it. Cumulative results across Car Concierge Pro and AiM services since 2019. Average annual saving is per negotiated policy. Individual results vary.
Keep reading
- Can you negotiate car insurance?The DIY playbook in full, including the phone script.
- What AiM costsFee schedule, worked examples, and when you pay.
- Reviews and resultsClient outcomes, third-party profiles, and the scope behind the numbers.
- Car insurance negotiationWhat the process looks like on an auto policy.