Learn how insurance agents and brokers get paid by insurance companies. In the process of buying insurance, customers often receive help from either an agent or broker. Yet, when you pay premiums to the insurance company, how are those workers compensated? In both cases of direct writers and insurance brokers, there are a couple of different methods of payment. As you learn more about these methods, note that there are actually similarities as well as differences that exist across both the direct writer and insurance broker platforms.