Insurance brokers in India: IRDAI list, licence check and data

The quick answer

Insurance brokers in India are companies, LLPs or co-operative societies registered by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Unlike an agent, a broker works for the client and can place cover with any insurer. IRDAI publishes the official list of insurance brokers on its website. When we read it on 1 November 2026 it had 874 brokers: 687 direct brokers (life and general), 104 direct brokers (general only), 79 composite brokers and 4 reinsurance brokers. To check a broker's licence, find its name and registration (CoR) number in that list and match them against the broker's letterhead, website and invoice.

This guide is for two kinds of reader. Businesses buying group health, fire, marine, liability or fleet insurance want to find a broker and check one before they sign a mandate. Firms that sell to brokers, or brokers looking for business clients, want to know where brokers are and how to reach them. It covers who does what in insurance distribution, the five categories of broker and what IRDAI requires of each, our count of IRDAI's list by state, the 2026 change that ended three-year licences, a step-by-step licence check, how to choose a broker, and how to market to businesses within TRAI's rules. Starleads figures in it are counts of contacts in Starleads' data, not an official census.

Broker, agent, corporate agent, web aggregator: who does what

People often say "insurance broker" for anyone who sells insurance. In law the word is narrower, and the difference matters when something goes wrong with a claim. IRDAI's requirements page defines a direct broker as one who "for a remuneration and/or a fee, solicits and arranges insurance business for its clients with insurers located in India" and may also provide claims consultancy and risk management services. The key word is clients: a broker acts for the buyer.

Who	Acts for	Registered with	What it can offer you
Direct broker	The client (you)	IRDAI, in the category Direct Broker (Life), (General) or (Life & General)	Quotes from several insurers, advice on cover and terms, help with premium payment and claims
Reinsurance broker	Insurers buying reinsurance	IRDAI, Reinsurance Broker	Places risk with reinsurers in India and abroad; not relevant to an ordinary business buyer
Composite broker	Clients and insurers	IRDAI, Composite Broker	Both direct and reinsurance broking, usually for large or complex risks
Insurance agent	The insurer that appointed the agent	Appointed through the insurer, not listed by IRDAI as a broker	That insurer's policies; see our LIC agents guide for how agent codes work
Corporate agent	The insurers it has tie-ups with	IRDAI, which publishes a separate list of corporate agents	Policies of the insurers it has tie-ups with, sold alongside the corporate agent's own business
Web aggregator	Shows insurers' products online	IRDAI, list of web aggregators	Websites that display and compare insurers' products

IRDAI's list of the functions of a direct broker shows what you should expect: getting detailed information about the client's business and its risk management philosophy, advising on appropriate cover and terms, submitting quotations from insurers for the client to consider, passing underwriting information to insurers, giving written acknowledgements and progress reports, assisting with premium payment under section 64VB of the Insurance Act, 1938, assisting in the negotiation of claims and keeping proper records of claims. If a firm cannot do most of these for you, it is a sales channel, not a broker.

The rules also guard against one conflict. IRDAI says a composite broker appointed by a client as its direct broker "shall not influence the insurer concerned to appoint him as reinsurance broker" on the same contract, and if it is appointed through a transparent process it must have systems in place so the client's interests are not harmed. If your broker is composite, it is fair to ask how it handles this.

The five categories of broker and what IRDAI requires

IRDAI's page "Requirements for Registering as a Broker", which we read on 1 November 2026, lists five categories: Direct Broker (Life), Direct Broker (General), Direct Broker (Life & General), Reinsurance Broker and Composite Broker. A broker may be a company under the Companies Act, an LLP with no non-resident partner, a co-operative society, or another person the Authority recognises. Its main object must be insurance broking, written into its memorandum and articles of association. Applications are made online only, through IRDAI's broker portal.

Requirement	Direct broker	Reinsurance broker	Composite broker
Minimum capital	₹75 lakh	₹4 crore	₹5 crore
Net worth, at all times	₹50 lakh	₹200 lakh (50% of minimum capital)	₹250 lakh (50% of minimum capital)
Deposit with a scheduled bank before starting	₹10 lakh	10% of minimum capital	10% of minimum capital
Application fee	₹25,000	₹50,000	₹75,000
Qualified staff	At least two trained "broker qualified persons" (for life and general if the broker does both), and a principal officer with the required qualification
Professional indemnity cover	Must be held at all times while registered; a new broker may be allowed up to twelve months to produce it

The same page says a broker must file a net worth certificate from its auditor every half-year, handle client grievances within 14 days of receiving a complaint, maintain books of accounts and must not use multi-level marketing. For a buyer, those rules translate into fair questions: who is your principal officer, who are the qualified persons on my account, what does your professional indemnity policy cover, and how do you log complaints?

IRDAI also puts a warning on that page that is worth repeating to anyone thinking of becoming a broker: it "does not recognize or engage with any consultant or third party for processing of applications", corresponds only with the applicant's principal officer, key managerial persons or directors, and advises applicants not to pay anyone who claims to "guarantee" or "expedite" registration.

How many insurance brokers are there in India, and where?

We downloaded IRDAI's list of brokers on 1 November 2026 and counted it. It gives each broker's serial number, CoR (certificate of registration) number, name, registered address, phone, category, principal officer, "From" and "To" dates and the principal officer's email. IRDAI's Brokers Department says on its functions page that it updates the list every quarter, so a broker registered in the last few weeks may not be on it yet.

• 874 brokers in all. Not one is registered as Direct Broker (Life) alone: firms that want life business register for life and general together.
• 687 Direct Broker (Life & General), 104 Direct Broker (General), 79 Composite, 4 Reinsurance. If you need a reinsurance placement, the choice is short; for a factory's fire policy almost any direct broker can quote.
• 299 of the 874 give a Gmail address for the principal officer. Many brokers are small firms run by a handful of people, which is not a problem in itself but tells you to ask who will actually service your account.

The list has no state column, so we counted brokers by the PIN code in each registered address (27 entries have no readable PIN code). Next to it is how many insurance and financial advisor contacts Starleads holds in the same state. The two columns measure different things: IRDAI's list is every registered broker, while Starleads' list is mostly agents, advisors and investment consultants with a few brokers among them.

State (by PIN code)	Brokers on IRDAI's list	Insurance & financial advisor contacts in Starleads' data
Maharashtra	210	10,073
Delhi	132	839
Tamil Nadu	71	4
Gujarat	62	977
Telangana	60	261 (Hyderabad)
Haryana	53	169
West Bengal	45	3
Karnataka	44	1,198
Uttar Pradesh	32	165
Rajasthan	27	1,918
Punjab and Chandigarh	33	346 (Punjab) and 392 (Chandigarh)
Kerala	20	2
Madhya Pradesh	20	1

By city, searching the addresses gives roughly 145 brokers in Mumbai (plus 23 in Thane), about 130 in Delhi, 55 each in Chennai and Hyderabad, about 40 in Bengaluru, about 39 in Gurugram, 34 in Ahmedabad, 32 in Kolkata and 31 in Pune. Smaller centres have a few each: Jaipur 21, Noida 15, Ludhiana 12, Chandigarh 11, Surat 11 and Indore 10. These are our counts of the published addresses on that date; a broker with branches across India is counted once, at its registered office.

The comparison shows where Starleads is weak. Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala have dozens of registered brokers, but Starleads' insurance and financial advisors list has almost nobody there. If you want brokers in Chennai or Kolkata, IRDAI's own list is the better source; Starleads' list is strongest in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat.

The 2026 change: no more three-year licences

For years a broker's certificate of registration lasted three years and had to be renewed. That is still what the older text on IRDAI's requirements page describes (renewal 30 days before expiry, fees of ₹1,00,000 for a direct broker's three-year renewal, and so on). It has now changed. IRDAI's FAQs on the Insurance Intermediaries (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, which we read on 1 November 2026, say:

• Registration no longer expires. The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (SBSR) Act, 2025 "replaces the existing registration validity of three years with a registration that remains in force, subject to the payment of annual fees every year", until it is suspended or cancelled by IRDAI or surrendered.
• Existing brokers must apply once to move across. A broker holding a three-year registration applies in Form B on IRDAI's broker portal before 31 January 2027. A late application can be made up to 31 March 2027 with reasons, the annual fee and an extra ₹750 plus taxes, but acceptance is not automatic. A broker that has not applied by 31 March 2027 must stop acting as an insurance intermediary.
• The CoR number stays the same. The new certificate takes effect when granted, and the old one is invalid from that moment.
• An annual fee replaces renewal. For a broker it is the higher of ₹10,000 or 0.04% of the commission and other receipts from insurers and clients in the preceding financial year, rounded up to the next thousand, and it is due before 31 January every year. IRDAI's own example: receipts of ₹4.10 crore give ₹16,400, rounded up to a fee of ₹17,000.

This explains something you will notice in the official list. IRDAI notes on its requirements page that "a blank 'To' date" means the CoR "shall remain in force subject to the payment of the annual fee". On 1 November 2026, 157 of the 874 brokers had a blank "To" date, meaning they had already moved to the new framework. Most of the rest still showed a three-year "To" date, ending in 2026 (57), 2027 (314), 2028 (308) or 2029 (38). Twenty-two entries showed a "To" date earlier than 1 November 2026. That does not by itself mean a broker is unlicensed, since its application may be pending and the list is updated quarterly, but it is exactly the case where you should ask the broker for its current certificate before you pay a premium through it.

How to check an insurance broker's licence, step by step

This takes ten minutes and answers the question people search most often: how do I check an insurance broker licence in India?

1. Ask for the CoR number and category in writing. A genuine broker puts its IRDAI registration number and category on its letterhead, website and email signature. Note the exact company name too.
2. Open IRDAI's list of brokers. It is under Regulated Entities, then Brokers, then List of Brokers on irdai.gov.in. The table is searchable; type part of the name or the CoR number.
3. Match every field. The name must match exactly, including "Private Limited" or "LLP". Check that the category covers your need: a Direct Broker (General) cannot arrange your life cover. Check the registered address against the one on the quote, and note the principal officer's name.
4. Read the "From" and "To" dates. A blank "To" date means the broker is under the new framework and stays registered while it pays the annual fee. A "To" date in the future is valid. A past date means you should ask for the fresh certificate or proof of its transition application.
5. Check the company behind it. Look up its company or LLP record on the MCA site and its GSTIN; our company search guide shows how to do both free. The names on the CoR, the invoice and the GST registration should all match.
6. Watch for look-alikes. Many firms put "insurance" or "broking" in their name without being IRDAI brokers, including stock broking firms (see our stock brokers guide) and agents who call themselves "insurance consultants". If the name is not on IRDAI's list, it is not an insurance broker, whatever its website says.
7. Pay the insurer, not the person. Whoever arranges the cover, the policy is issued by the insurer. A broker can assist with paying the premium (IRDAI lists this among its functions, under section 64VB of the Insurance Act), but make sure the payment reaches the insurer and that you get the policy document from the insurer.

How to choose an insurance broker for your business

Most businesses only need one broker, and the right one is the broker that understands your industry and will fight your claims, not the one with the lowest quote this year. A practical process:

1. List what you need covered. Group health and personal accident for staff, fire and allied perils for buildings and stock, marine cargo for goods in transit, motor fleet, public and product liability, directors and officers, cyber, credit insurance for exporters. Give each broker the same brief and last year's policies and claims history.
2. Shortlist three or four registered brokers. Ask businesses in your industry or industrial area who they use, check IRDAI's list for brokers with an office in your city, and confirm each one's category and CoR as above.
3. Ask about claims, not just placement. IRDAI lists assisting in the negotiation of claims and keeping records of claims among a direct broker's functions. Ask who in the firm handles claims, how many claims of your kind it handled last year, and for two clients you can call.
4. Compare the quotes properly. The broker should show quotations from more than one insurer, with the cover, exclusions, deductibles and sub-limits side by side, not just the premium.
5. Ask how the broker is paid. IRDAI defines a broker as working "for a remuneration and/or a fee", and its annual fee rule counts a broker's commission and other receipts "from insurers/clients". Ask the broker to set out in writing what it earns from the insurer on your policies and any fee it will charge you.
6. Check its own safety net. Ask to see its professional indemnity policy, which IRDAI requires it to hold, and how it records and resolves complaints within the 14 days IRDAI expects.
7. Put the appointment in writing. A short mandate letter should say which policies the broker handles, from when, and what service it will provide at renewal and at claim time.

Large buyers who onboard brokers as vendors can fold the same checks into their supplier process; our vendor registration guide lists what big companies usually ask for.

Starleads' insurance and financial advisors lists

Our Insurance & Financial Advisors list has 16,361 contacts in 28 cities. 50% of rows name the contact person, 97% have a mobile number and 28% an email address. Most contacts are in Mumbai, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Pune and Delhi. Every list page has 60 sample rows and a free Excel download, and you can buy one of 8 cities instead of all of India. City and state lists cost ₹499 each and the All-India file ₹1,999, plus 18% GST.

Insurance and financial advisors by city

• Mumbai 9,160 contacts · 31% email · 97% mobile ₹499
• Jaipur 1,514 contacts · 24% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Bengaluru 1,198 contacts · 28% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Pune 905 contacts · 28% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Surat 526 contacts · 28% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Vadodara 448 contacts · 22% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Ludhiana 346 contacts · 8% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Hyderabad 261 contacts · 34% email · 47% mobile ₹499

LIC agents and stock brokers

These lists overlap with the insurance market: LIC agents sell to the same households and firms, and many stock broking firms also distribute insurance.

• Insurance & Financial Advisors 16,361 contacts · 28% email · 97% mobile ₹1,999
• LIC Agents (Email List) 7,605 contacts · 100% email · 0% mobile ₹499
• Stock Brokers & Broking Firms 1,87,286 contacts · 97% email · 95% mobile ₹1,999

What is in it, honestly. On 1 November 2026 our All-India insurance and financial advisors list had 16,361 contacts, 97% with a mobile number and 28% with an email address. There is no separate "insurance broker" category: brokers sit inside wider categories. The biggest are Investment Consultants (4,281), Insurance Agents (3,289), Financial Advisors (2,334), Life Insurance (1,935) and Investment Advisors (1,220). The General Insurance category, where most brokers for business cover appear, has 361 contacts. The free sample shows the mix: broking firms such as Goldkey Insurance Brokers in Chandigarh, Secure Now Insurance Broker in Delhi and K M Dastur Reinsurance Brokers in Vadodara sit next to LIC agents, bank branches and wealth advisors. To pick out brokers, filter the Excel file for "Broker" or "Broking" in the business name, then check each one against IRDAI's list.

The list leans heavily to western India. Mumbai alone has 9,160 contacts (97% with a mobile number, 31% with an email address, 58% naming the contact person), followed by Jaipur with 1,514, Bengaluru with 1,198 and Pune with 905. If you sell to agents rather than brokers, the LIC agents email list has 7,605 addresses.

Selling to insurance brokers, and brokers finding business clients

Brokers are buyers themselves. A broking firm needs policy administration and CRM software, claims and document management tools, training for its qualified persons, professional indemnity cover, office space and staff. For software and service firms, the 874 registered brokers are a small, well-defined market: every one of them is on IRDAI's list with a principal officer's name and email, so you can approach the person who decides.

The bigger question for most readers is the reverse: a broker looking for businesses that need cover. Each line of business insurance has an obvious buyer, and Starleads has lists of most of them:

• Group health and accident cover is usually bought by HR with finance. Our HR professionals list has 18,055 contacts, 94% with a mobile number and 89% with an email address; see our HR database guide.
• Fire, liability and directors and officers cover is signed off by owners and directors. The CEOs, MDs and directors list has 36,173 named contacts, 94% with an email address.
• Marine transit and fleet motor cover are bought by transport and logistics firms. The transporters and logistics companies list has 41,932 contacts, 93% with a mobile number.
• Referral partners. Chartered accountants see their clients' balance sheets and renewals. The chartered accountants and tax consultants list has 47,994 contacts; our CA list guide explains how to find firms by city.

Starleads sells business and professional contacts only. It does not sell lists of private individuals picked out by their income, investments or health, and a broker should not buy such lists from anyone.

Insurance marketing is also exactly what India's do-not-disturb rules were written for, so follow them even when you call a business owner:

• The DND register (NCPR). On TRAI's preference registration page, "Banking/Insurance/Financial products/credit cards" is the first category a subscriber can block. People register by calling or sending an SMS to 1909, or through an app or web portal. Check every number before a promotional call or SMS; our DND check guide shows how.
• DLT registration for SMS. TRAI's advice to senders says every business sending bulk messages must meet the requirements of the TCCCPR, 2018: register as a principal entity, register its headers and content templates, and, before sending commercial communication, acquire customers' consent through a registered process. Our DLT registration guide walks through it.
• Consent and opt-outs. Say who you are and which IRDAI registration you hold, and stop contacting anyone who asks you to. Keep a record.

In practice a short, specific call or email to the right person works better than bulk messages. For example: "Namaste Mr Patel, I'm calling from a Vadodara-based IRDAI-registered direct broker. We place fire and marine policies for chemical units in Makarpura and Nandesari. Could I review your renewal before it falls due?" Our cold calling tips give more wording to start from.

Where each source falls short

• IRDAI's list is the authority on who is registered, but it is updated quarterly, gives one registered address per broker (not branches), and has no email or phone for business development staff. It also says nothing about a broker's size, specialisation or service quality.
• Starleads' lists do not show IRDAI registration status. They mix brokers with agents, advisors and investment consultants, are thin in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala, and, like any contact data, age as people change jobs and numbers. Every list page shows 60 real sample contacts and the share of records with each detail, so check those before you pay.
• "Top insurance brokers" rankings on the web are usually compiled from what companies say about themselves and change often. For a buyer, a registered broker with people in your city and claims experience in your industry matters more than a rank.

Questions people ask

How do I check an insurance broker licence in India?

Ask the broker for its IRDAI certificate of registration number and category, then search for its name or number in IRDAI's List of Brokers under Regulated Entities on irdai.gov.in. The name, category and address must match. A blank "To" date means the registration stays in force while the broker pays its annual fee; a past "To" date means you should ask for its fresh certificate.

How many insurance brokers are there in India?

IRDAI's list had 874 registered brokers when we counted it on 1 November 2026: 687 direct brokers for life and general, 104 direct brokers for general insurance, 79 composite brokers and 4 reinsurance brokers.

What is the difference between an insurance broker and an insurance agent?

A broker is registered by IRDAI, acts for the client and can get quotes from many insurers. An agent is appointed through an insurer and sells that insurer's policies. For business cover with several policies and claims to manage, most firms use a broker.

What is the minimum capital for an insurance broker licence?

IRDAI's requirements page gives ₹75 lakh for a direct broker, ₹4 crore for a reinsurance broker and ₹5 crore for a composite broker, with net worth of at least ₹50 lakh, ₹200 lakh and ₹250 lakh respectively at all times, and a bank deposit of ₹10 lakh for a direct broker.

Is an insurance broker licence valid for three years?

Not any more. IRDAI's 2026 FAQs say the three-year validity "has been done away with": a registration stays in force, subject to the annual fee, until it is suspended, cancelled or surrendered. Existing brokers must apply for a fresh certificate before 31 January 2027, or by 31 March 2027 with reasons and a late fee.

Who pays the insurance broker?

IRDAI defines a broker as one who arranges insurance "for a remuneration and/or a fee", and counts its commission and other receipts from insurers and clients when setting its annual fee. In practice a broker can be paid by the insurer, by you for services such as claims consultancy or risk management, or both. Ask for it in writing before you appoint one.

Is there a free list of insurance brokers in India?

Yes. IRDAI's List of Brokers is free and official, with each broker's address, category, principal officer and email. Starleads' insurance and financial advisors list pages each show 60 real contacts you can download free, though brokers there are mixed with agents and advisors.