Getting Insurance Quotes From 2 Agencies in Malaysia
You need insurance for a contract, a venue or a tender, you have never bought business insurance before, so you do the normal thing and ask a few agencies at the same time to see who gives the best price.
Business insurance does not work like that, and it is not because anyone wants to stop you comparing. It is because you are not really comparing agencies. You are comparing insurance companies, and the agency is just the one who talks to them for you. In Malaysia there are only so many insurance companies, so 3 agencies will end up asking the same few.
Already asked more than 1 agency?
This can still be sorted out, and it is easier to fix now than after both agencies have sent your details to the same insurer. Tell us which agencies you have contacted and we will tell you what happens next.
Key Facts: Asking More Than 1 Agency for the Same Quote
Can you ask several insurance agencies at the same time? Yes, nobody can stop you, but you will usually get fewer choices, not more. Once an insurance company has quoted your business through the first agency, it will not quote the same business again through a second agency. In the market this is called a conflict. Overseas it is called market blocking.
Why did the second agency come back with nothing, or the same price? Because the insurance company already gave its price to whoever asked first. If you appoint the second agency in writing, the insurer will usually pass on the same price it already gave. It will not work out a new one.
What should you do instead? Before you send your details anywhere, ask each agency which insurance companies they work with. If the lists are the same, choose 1 agency. If the lists are really different, there is no clash and you can use both.
Does using an agent cost you more than buying direct? Commission is already inside the premium, not added on top, and it is the same whichever agency you use, so changing agency does not change it. Bank Negara Malaysia regulates and caps what intermediaries can be paid, and the commission on your policy is written on the Product Disclosure Sheet you receive.
Is there a law about this? No. No Malaysian law says you can only use 1 agency. This is just how insurance companies handle the same enquiry arriving twice, so it is a practical problem rather than a rule you can argue with.
What happens when you ask an agency for a quote
The agency does not decide your price. It collects your information, works out which insurance companies are likely to want your type of business, sends it to them, and comes back with what they said. The price is decided inside the insurance company by an underwriter, who first has to decide whether they want your type of business at all. The things that drive your premium are decided there, not at the agency.
This is also why filling in a form on an insurance company's own website usually ends with someone from an agency calling you. For most small and medium business insurance, insurance companies do not sell direct, so your enquiry gets passed to an agency who will do the paperwork and look after the policy.
So when you ask 3 agencies, you are not getting 3 separate opinions. You are asking 3 people to go to the same few insurance companies.
Can you ask 2 or 3 agencies at the same time?
You can. It just does not give you what you think it gives you.
Insurance companies work on a first come first served basis for each risk. Once an underwriter has looked at your business and given a price to 1 agency, that insurer is taken. When a second agency arrives with the same company name, the same business activity and the same sum insured, the underwriter sees it is the same case and will say so.
What actually happens is that the second and third agencies spend a week working on something that will not go anywhere, you wait longer for a price you would have received anyway, and the insurance company sees the same business asking twice, which does not help you.
Why the second agency gave you the same price, or nothing
If this has already happened, the second agency did nothing wrong. They went to an insurance company that had already quoted.
You can appoint whichever agency you prefer in writing, and the insurance company will deal with that agency from then on. What you will usually not get is a different price, because the insurer simply passes on the price it already gave. Appointing a new agency changes who looks after your policy. It does not start the pricing again.
This works both ways, and it is worth knowing. If you are unhappy with how your enquiry is being handled, you can move it. But moving it is not a way to get a cheaper price.
The 1 question to ask before you send your details
Ask each agency: which insurance companies do you work with?
It is a fair question and any agency should be able to answer it. The answer tells you what you need to know.
- If both agencies work with the same insurance companies, using both is not comparing. They will go to the same insurer, only the first one gets an answer, and the second one wastes your time and theirs. Choose 1.
- If they work with really different insurance companies, there is no clash and you can use both. Just tell each of them what you are doing so nobody is surprised later.
Malaysia is a small market, so most of the time the lists overlap and the answer is to choose 1. But sometimes they do not overlap, and you should be told that too, instead of just being told to use 1 agency.
Not sure which insurers will take your business?
That is what decides your outcome, much more than how many agencies you contact. Send us your details and we will tell you where it is likely to be placed, including public liability and professional indemnity.
What if 2 people in your company both ask for quotes?
This happens more often than the 2 agencies problem, and it causes the same jam. Finance asks 1 agency, the ops person asks another, neither knows the other has done it, and both enquiries reach the same insurance company under the same company registration number within a few days.
The underwriter now has 1 business asking twice, with 2 different sets of information. Before anyone can give you a price, someone has to find out which set is correct.
Let 1 person handle it, the same way you would with any other supplier. It is the easiest thing to fix on this page.
Does using an agent cost you more than going direct?
It is fair to wonder about this, and you do not have to take anyone's word for it.
Commission is already inside the premium, not added on top, and it is the same whichever agency handles your policy, so changing agency does not change what you pay. Bank Negara Malaysia regulates how much intermediaries can be paid for general insurance. It caps commission by class of business and limits what insurers can spend on intermediary costs, under its policy document on operating cost controls, which has been in force since 1 January 2024.
You can also just check for yourself. Showing the commission has been compulsory for general insurance in Malaysia since 15 April 2010, and the amount is printed on the Product Disclosure Sheet you get with your quotation. If you want to know what the commission on your policy is, that is where to look.
What the commission pays for is the work you do not see: working out what cover your contract actually asks for, preparing the submission, making sure the wording and the certificate are correct, and, if you have a claim, putting the documents together and following up with the insurance company for you. Insurance companies sell business insurance through agencies because someone has to do that work.
What to send so you get a useful quote
Whether you use us or someone else, what you send decides how fast you get an answer and how close that answer is to the real price. Send these 6 things together, in your first message:
- What you need cover for, and who is asking you for it. Attach the contract clause, venue agreement or tender page if you have one. About 9 in 10 of the enquiries we get exist because a document somewhere asks for insurance, and that document is the fastest way to get the cover right. If you are not sure what the clause is asking for, start with what business insurance covers.
- The date you want the policy to start. If it is a project, give the project dates instead. Asking in June for a policy starting next January is hard, because insurers will not hold a price that far ahead.
- The limit or sum insured you have been told to carry, if someone has given you a figure.
- What your business actually does, and your annual turnover. Not the SSM description, the real work.
- Whether anyone else in your company has already contacted another agency about this.
- Your budget, if you really have one. This is not giving away your negotiating position. It lets us tell you early whether that budget is enough, or whether the cover your contract asks for will cost more than you have set aside. Better to know that in week 1 than in week 3, especially if you are working to a contract or tender deadline.
Points 3 and 4 are not us being difficult. A business buying insurance in Malaysia has a legal duty to give correct information, and it is a wider duty than the one an individual has when buying personal insurance:
"a proposer shall disclose to the licensed insurer a matter that (a) he knows to be relevant to the decision of the insurer on whether to accept the risk or not and the rates and terms to be applied; or (b) a reasonable person in the circumstances could be expected to know to be relevant."
Source: Schedule 9, paragraph 4(1), Financial Services Act 2013.
If you give incomplete or wrong information, the policy may not pay when you make a claim, and you will only find that out at the point you need it.
Frequently asked questions
Is it against the law to get quotes from more than 1 insurance agency in Malaysia?
No. Nothing stops you. The problem is practical: insurance companies will not price the same business twice through 2 different agencies, so the second agency usually comes back with the price that was already given, or with nothing.
What does conflict mean in insurance quoting?
It is the word used in the market when 2 agencies send the same business to the same insurance company. The insurer sees it is the same case and will not quote the second one. Overseas the same thing is called market blocking.
How do I move my enquiry to a different agency?
Appoint the agency you want in writing, and the insurance company will deal with them from then on. Expect the insurer to pass on the price it already gave, rather than work out a new one.
Should I go direct to the insurance company instead?
For most small and medium business insurance there is no way to buy direct, and an enquiry sent through an insurer's website is usually passed to an agency anyway. Commission is regulated and it is printed on your Product Disclosure Sheet, so you can check it instead of guessing.
If I only use 1 agency, how do I know the price is fair?
Ask them to show you in writing what came back and from which insurers, including who said no and why. That tells you more than 3 agencies racing each other to the same insurance company, because you see what the market said about your business instead of 1 price with nothing to compare it to. It also helps to know what SME cover in Malaysia normally includes.
Two people in my company have already asked for quotes. What should we do?
Decide who owns it, tell both agencies, and let the one you are keeping confirm to the insurance company which enquiry is the real one. Sorting it out takes a few minutes. Leaving it is what holds up your quote.
Disclaimer: This article explains how quotations and placement usually work in the Malaysian general insurance market as at September 2026, and how the law quoted here applies. Practice differs between insurance companies and between types of insurance, and regulations can change. Always check your own position with your agency and read your own policy documents before relying on any of this.
