Insurer Panel

Definition

An insurer panel is the list of insurance carriers a comparison platform, broker, or aggregator has commercial agreements with and can therefore present quotes from. When you submit your details to Policygenius, The Zebra, or a UK comparison site, you only receive quotes from carriers on that platform’s panel.

Why panels have gaps — the commercial reality

No comparison platform has every carrier. There are two reasons:

1. Carriers choose to stay off panels. Some large carriers (State Farm in the US; Direct Line and NFU Mutual in the UK) refuse to distribute through comparison platforms. Their commercial rationale: panel competition drives a race to the bottom on price that erodes underwriting margins. By staying direct-only, they set their own price without competing in a panel.

2. Commercial agreements determine who appears. An aggregator earns a commission from each carrier whose quote converts to a policy. If a carrier’s commission rates are below the platform’s threshold, or if the carrier chooses not to pay panel fees, they are absent from the results — even if their policies would be competitive for your risk profile.

What this means for you

If you use one comparison platform, you are seeing a subset of the market. For US homeowners:

• Policygenius panels vary by state but typically include 7-12 carriers.
• State Farm — the largest US home insurer — is absent from every major aggregator.
• USAA — among the most competitive for eligible military members — is absent from most aggregators.
• Chubb and Openly are primarily agent-distributed, appearing in aggregators rarely.

Using one aggregator means you have a 60-80% view of the market for your specific risk. The carriers absent from the panel are not necessarily worse or more expensive — they are simply not visible in that channel.

The 3+2 method: solving the panel gap problem

The practical solution is to use multiple comparison sources and include direct-only carriers explicitly. In the US context:

1. Use one multi-carrier aggregator (Policygenius, The Zebra) for your panel quotes.
2. Get a State Farm direct quote (not on any aggregator).
3. Check USAA if you or a family member has military service.

Three sources in about 25 minutes gives you a 90%+ market view for a standard property.

Panel gaps in the UK market

The UK market has the same structural problem. Direct Line and NFU Mutual are absent from all four UK price comparison websites (Compare the Market, MoneySuperMarket, GoCompare, Confused.com). Every UK home insurance comparison that uses only one PCW misses these two direct-only carriers, which together represent a significant portion of the market.

How to check if a carrier is on a platform’s panel

Most platforms do not publish their panel list. You can infer it by searching for the carrier’s name on the platform’s results page. If the carrier never appears across multiple searches with different property profiles, they are likely absent from the panel.