An independent agent can look out for your interests. And the agent’s compensation does not necessarily come out of your pocket. If it did, why would the insurance company advertise to get you to cut the agent out?
Depending on the type of insurance, 80-90% of the first years premium goes to them. That’s why a lot insurance salesmen do so well if they can grow and maintain their customer base because they still get a piece of the pie 20 years after selling you the policy.
Life and health insurance commission comes out of premium. If i wrote a whole life policy that costs 2000 per year I would receive 2000 for the 1st year and a percentage every year till the policy is exercised or canceled. They did have to keep the policy for a minimum amount of time or that commission would be paid back.