AIG vs Founder Shield: How Do They Compare for Cyber Insurance?

AIG names CyberEdge, Plus and PC as distinct offerings. Founder Shield brokers cyber placements with carriers rather than underwriting the policy, so available forms depend on its market access. 3,10

What Is AIG?

AIG is the marketing name for American International Group, Inc.; AIG says its insurance products are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates. Its U.S. business pages list commercial casualty, property, cyber, management and professional liability, and specialty programs, but a brand-level page does not identify the insurer for a particular policy. 1,2

Read the AIG profile

Read the AIG Cyber Insurance page

What Is Founder Shield Insurance?

Founder Shield is a broker for venture-backed startups: you apply online in under 15 minutes, and an advisor shops its 200+ carrier markets to build a program that changes as your products and locations change. It doesn't insure you itself, so ask which insurer carries each policy. 4,5,6,7,8

Read the Founder Shield profile

Read the Founder Shield Cyber Insurance page

What Is Cyber Insurance?

Cyber insurance can help pay covered response costs and claims against your business after a cyber incident. If your business relies on data, software or outside providers, compare response limits, vendor outages and approval rules. 11,12

Read the full coverage guide

Key Differences in Cyber Insurance

Policy forms and carrier access

AIG names CyberEdge, Plus and PC as distinct offerings. Founder Shield brokers cyber placements with carriers rather than underwriting the policy, so available forms depend on its market access. Ask Founder Shield which carrier will issue the policy and compare its offered first-party and excess terms with the AIG form matching your needs. 3 10

Cyber-risk and incident support

AIG describes threat intelligence, vulnerability alerts and a 24/7 claims hotline with legal and forensic partners. Founder Shield describes advisor support for selecting coverage and coordinating a placement. Ask Founder Shield who handles incident response after binding and whether the carrier offers a hotline; ask AIG which partner services apply to your selected form. 3 3 9

What to Confirm in Cyber Insurance Quotes

  • For AIG, ask for the exact policy form, covered-event schedule and limits relevant to the differences above. 3
  • For Founder Shield, ask which carrier, endorsements and application route apply to the quoted placement, and confirm the specific terms above. 10

Review Scores

These averages can combine ratings for different products, locations, and customer groups, including approximate BBB grade conversions. Read each review for the sources, scope, and calculation.

AIG

4.4/ 10

Review Score

2 rated sources

Customer ratings for AIG are low: Trustpilot shows 1.9 out of 5 from 252 reviews, and NerdWallet gives 2.5 stars and notes more claims complaints than expected. These pages cover many AIG products and countries, so they only loosely describe business insurance.[1][2]

Read AIG reviews

Founder Shield

7.4/ 10

Review Score

1 rated source

Founder Shield has too little independent customer feedback for a reliable verdict. One positive Trustpilot review does not establish a service track record.[1][4]

Read Founder Shield reviews

Offering Details

AIG vs Founder Shield: Cyber Insurance: documented features by provider

CriteriaAIG CyberEdge, CyberEdge Plus and CyberEdge PCFounder Shield Cyber Liability Insurance
Role in This Line

AIG markets three distinct cyber forms: CyberEdge, CyberEdge Plus and CyberEdge PC. AIG says coverage may be bought as a standalone CyberEdge policy or endorsed onto selected Financial Lines, Property and Casualty policies; the forms are not interchangeable descriptions of one coverage grant. 3Company-reported. AIG’s U.S. CyberEdge page; endorsement availability is stated only for selected policies. AIG’s legal footer says policies are written by subsidiaries or affiliates and coverage depends on underwriting and policy language.

Founder Shield is a retail insurance brokerage, described on its site as “the innovation arm of The Baldwin Group,” and places Founder Shield Cyber Liability Insurance with third-party carriers rather than underwriting the policy itself. 10Company-reported. About-us page; applies to Founder Shield's brokerage model generally, restated here for this line.

Issuing Insurer

Confirm in your quote.

Founder Shield says it places policies, including Founder Shield Cyber Liability Insurance, only with carriers rated A- or better by AM Best, chosen for the client's industry. It does not name the issuing insurer for this line; that depends on which carrier the policy is placed with. 6Company-reported. General carrier-selection FAQ, not specific to this line's placements.

Who It’s For

AIG describes cyber coverage and risk services for organizations and clients. The reviewed product page does not publish a complete eligible-industry, revenue or security-control appetite; a particular applicant’s eligibility remains subject to underwriting. 3Company-reported. Audience stated by AIG on its U.S. CyberEdge marketing page; no application eligibility schedule was reviewed.

Founder Shield calls cyber coverage a priority for healthcare, financial services, SaaS and e-commerce companies, citing their exposure to data breaches and business interruption. 9Company-reported. Cyber Liability product page.

Coverage Features

AIG describes CyberEdge as addressing breach-related financial costs such as response, data restoration, network interruption and cyber extortion. CyberEdge Plus is described for physical-world losses caused by a cyber event, including business interruption, property damage and physical injury; CyberEdge PC is described as excess of traditional property and casualty policies on a difference-in-conditions/difference-in-limits basis. The page says actual coverage depends on the facts and policy terms, conditions and exclusions. 3Company-reported. Product summaries on AIG’s U.S. page, preserving differences among the three forms. Examples are not a promise that any loss or expense is covered under an issued policy.

Founder Shield lists loss or damage to electronic data, income loss and extra expense from a system outage, cyber extortion payments, and breach-notification and reputation-management costs as the branches of cyber coverage it places. 9Company-reported. Product page; the issued policy and declarations control actual coverage.

Founder Shield says cyber policies typically exclude loss of value from stolen IP, internal technology system upgrades, and possible future lost profits. 9Company-reported. Product page; specific exclusions depend on the issued policy.

Limits and Retentions

The reviewed page does not state standard cyber limits, retentions or sublimits. Confirm each amount and applicable form in the quote and issued policy. 3Not publicly disclosed. AIG’s U.S. CyberEdge marketing page reviewed 2026-09-30; no buyer-specific quote, application outcome or policy wording was reviewed.

Confirm in your quote.

Risk Services

AIG describes cyber risk assessment, threat intelligence, alerts about known vulnerabilities, and a Cyber Resiliency Program. The page says these services help clients assess and improve cyber resilience; it does not promise that they prevent a breach or are available on identical terms with every form. 3Company-reported. Company-described cyber risk services on AIG’s U.S. CyberEdge page; product and account applicability should be confirmed in the quote.

Confirm in your quote.

How to Apply

AIG links a U.S. Cyber underwriting application and invites brokers to contact its national product and distribution teams. The page does not say that submitting an application results in a quote, acceptance or binding. 3Company-reported. Application and broker contact links on AIG’s U.S. CyberEdge page; no completed application or binding workflow was reviewed.

You request Founder Shield Cyber Liability Insurance through Founder Shield's website or an insurance advisor rather than binding coverage directly; Founder Shield says its placement team then approaches carriers on the client's behalf. 10,6Company-reported. About-us and carrier-selection pages describe the general placement process, not a line-specific application form.

Claims Support

AIG says its cyber insureds can use a 24/7 claims hotline and that its claims team works with specialized legal and forensic firms on incident response. AIG’s example also describes assistance with regulatory disclosures and notifications. These service statements do not guarantee claim acceptance, payment or a particular response time. 3Company-reported. Company-reported services and example on AIG’s CyberEdge page; policy terms and the circumstances of a loss control any claim.

Confirm in your quote.

Full Comparison

More AIG vs Founder Shield Comparisons

Other Cyber Insurance Comparisons

Sources

AIG

  1. Investor Relations. American International Group, Inc. (AIG); About AIG and legal footer; lines 244–246 and 327–331. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  2. Business. AIG US; Surplus Lines heading and paragraph, lines 357–359. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  3. Cyber Insurance — CyberEdge. AIG US; Cyber risk services and hotline, lines 253–284; coverage structure and separate CyberEdge, CyberEdge Plus, and CyberEdge PC descriptions, lines 353–374; AIG cyber claim expenses example, lines 343–352; application/contact materials, lines 358–409; policy-language caveat and legal footer, lines 449–485. Accessed 2026-09-30.

Founder Shield

  1. Founder Shield. Founder Shield; Opening broker description; Specialized Practices; Smart Tech, Smarter People; quote and sign-in links. Accessed 2026-09-15.
  2. Startup Insurance. Founder Shield; What Coverage Does your Startup Need?; Why Startups Choose Founder Shield; Industries We Serve; Essential Policies to Consider section. Accessed 2026-09-15.
  3. How Do You Decide Which Carriers to Approach? Founder Shield; FAQ answer on carrier selection: works exclusively with A-rated (AM Best) carriers, matched by industry appetite. Accessed 2026-09-23.
  4. What If Our Company Grows A Lot or Things Change During the Year? Founder Shield; Carl Niedbala answer, November 25, 2024: operational changes and coverage adjustments. Accessed 2026-09-15.
  5. Terms of Service. Founder Shield; Opening agreement; License Status; Representations and Disclaimers Related to Products or Services; Fees and Charges; Void Where Prohibited. Accessed 2026-09-15.
  6. Cyber Liability Insurance. Founder Shield; What Is Cyber Liability Insurance?; Who Needs Cyber Insurance Coverage?; What Does Cyber Insurance Cover? Accessed 2026-09-23.
  7. About Us. Founder Shield; “Founder Shield is the innovation arm of The Baldwin Group”; company history and mission. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Cyber Insurance Guide

  1. Cyber Insurance. Federal Trade Commission; Opening; First-Party and Third-Party Coverage; First-Party Coverage; Third-Party Coverage; What Should Your Cyber Insurance Policy Cover. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. CyberEdge specimen policy. AIG; General Terms §§4–6, PDF pp.3–6; Security and Privacy §1 p.11, §2(l)/(p) p.14, §3 pp.15–18, exclusions p.18; Event Management §1 and §2(h), PDF pp.19–20. Accessed 2026-09-16.

Updated . Spot, a product of Tools for Enlightenment, publishes this research and works in the commercial insurance market. The comparison applies the same criteria to both providers. Editorial policy. To suggest a correction, contact Spot with the page URL and supporting source.

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