Buying insurance means choosing a policy, proving who you are and paying the first premium. In India, a policy can be bought in three main ways: through an agent or a broker, by yourself on a website or an app, or through your employer.
The oldest way is through an agent. An insurance agent sells policies on behalf of one or more insurers and earns a commission on each sale. A broker does a similar job, but acts on behalf of the buyer and can place the policy with any insurer. Agents and brokers keep every client, policy and commission in an insurance agency management system. For a business client, the agent uses it to get quotes from several insurers and to remind the client before each renewal.
The second way is to buy online by yourself. Here is a typical case. You want health insurance for your parents in Madurai. On an insurance comparison marketplace, you see twenty policies side by side, with their premiums and what each one covers. You pick one and pay through a payment gateway. Before the policy is issued, the insurer checks your identity and your parents' identity. This check is called KYC (know your customer). If you are not sure which policy to choose, an insurance advisory platform can recommend one and explain its fine print.
The third way is through your employer. A company can buy one health policy that covers all its staff, and often their families. Group health insurance platforms let a start-up or a small company buy this policy online. The company can then add a new joiner on the first day and remove an employee who leaves.
Why are there so many ways to buy? Insurance is hard to understand, so for a long time it was sold to people rather than bought by them. The page on insurance distribution explains this. In India, IRDAI, the insurance regulator, sets the rules for everyone who sells policies. It registers brokers and comparison websites, and insurers appoint their agents under IRDAI's rules. A national online marketplace called Bima Sugam is also being set up under IRDAI's rules. On it, people will be able to compare and buy policies from all insurers. It is run by the Bima Sugam India Federation, a not-for-profit company owned by the insurance industry. Its website went live in September 2025 as an information site, and the sale of policies on it is due to start in stages.