Make what you pay your benefits intermediaries visible, comparable, and accountable.

Why this exists

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 requires covered brokers and consultants to disclose qualifying compensation when they reasonably expect at least $1,000. Unbrokered benchmarks broker compensation against comparable public filings.

The duty behind the data

If you sponsor an ERISA-covered group health plan, designated plan fiduciaries must prudently evaluate service arrangements and reasonable compensation. The Consolidated Appropriations Act added written compensation-disclosure requirements for covered brokers and consultants, including qualifying direct and indirect amounts.

Many employers still lack an independent benchmark. A compensation disclosure tells you what your broker expects to receive. It doesn't tell you whether that number is high, low, or typical for a plan like yours. Without a peer comparison, “reasonable” is a guess.

ERISA section 408(b)(2) conditions the service-provider exemption on necessary services, a reasonable contract or arrangement, and no more than reasonable compensation. Unbrokered provides data for that review; it does not make the legal determination or replace counsel.

Unbrokered exists to close that gap. We built the peer benchmark employers have never had from public DOL filings — down to the commission rate on each benefit line, because one blended number can hide a high-rate line inside a low-rate plan. You see your own numbers next to what similar plans actually report, and draw your own conclusion. Not because you're in trouble. Because it's the job.

The data foundation

The broker benchmark is built only on public U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 Schedule A and Schedule C filings, where carrier commissions and named service-provider compensation are reported: 360,000+ filings from 82,000+ plan sponsors, plan years 2021–2024, 2025 filings arriving. A user submission may supply the user's current compensation figure, but it never enters broker peer benchmark cells. Statistical methodology and sample sizes are disclosed on every benchmark.

Don't take our word for it. Check the filing. Every public benchmark figure traces to a Form 5500 filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, and every company page links to the government filing source. Employer-provided current figures are labeled separately and never enter broker peer cells.

Paid by employers. Never by brokers or carriers.

Unbrokered is designed for the people who sign the renewal and answer for the cost. The benchmark is funded by report and research-access purchases at public prices, never by commissions, referral fees, or paid placement from the brokers, carriers, PBMs, or vendors whose data appears in it.

Unbrokered is an independent benchmarking platform. We don't sell insurance or earn broker commissions. Our only revenue is paid reports and research access, so our incentive is to give you the most accurate picture of the market possible, not to steer you toward any product.

Our commitment

We present data and let you draw your own conclusion. The primary benchmark view carries no upsell language and never reveals a competitor's company name. The goal is for every employer to walk into a broker conversation with information. Not anger, not suspicion, just facts.