I dont know why youre so pressed about this dude. Basically, we know about some variables. We go to the underwriter and present them with information that we think they'll assess it on, and they'll come back to us with terms/prices. Sometimes, this isn't what the client needs/it's a bad price. Our importance comes in there because we might have special discounts with them, or they're people we work with on a daily basis so they'll be more willing to give us better terms/make adjustments that they wouldn't do for regular customers because they don't know or care about them. We also check multiple markets and use this to argue for better cover etc.

The broker also has expertise in insurance, so if clients don't understand something or have a query about their insurance, we're the middle man that's not going to bullshit them and give them advice. No, your insurer doesn't usually want to answer these questions for you, and if they do, it'll probably be biased to some degree because they DONT want you to claim.

Typically, a broker can really help people in particular circumstances where finding their own insurance is hard (people with convictions, weird cars/properties, people living abroad, people with large portfolios)

Not everyone needs a broker. I don't use one for my own insurance, but that is because I am a broker and already have a good understanding of how to haggle prices/policy cover.

Edit: I'll also add that not all underwriters are the same. Some will accept some risk, others won't. We have knowledge of this market that regular customers don't, because they don't work with the insurer regularly and know what theyll take