By Ric Edelman From The Truth About Money . To understand the answer, first understand the difference.
Captive agents are employees of an insurance company.
No matter how good a Chevy is, no Ford salesman will sell you a one. Some of the biggest insurance companies are captive agencies. Thus, independent agents are free to shop with many carriers to find the one that offers the best policy at the best price for the client. Brokers, therefore, do the shopping for their clients, alleviating the need for their clients to shop on their own. Therefore, you should either work with one broker, or with several agents, since agents will give you policies from only one carrier each.