Alliance Risk vs Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance: How Do They Compare for Employment Practices Liability Insurance?

Alliance Risk recommends $500,000–$1 million for smaller employers with strong HR practices and no prior claims, $1 million for most small businesses, and $2 million or more for larger or multistate employers. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance lists Employment Practices Liability within a broader Executive First private-company portfolio and advertises shared or separate portfolio limits up to $50 million. 4,10

What Is Alliance Risk?

Alliance Risk suits tech startups from pre-seed through IPO that want a broker to review their tech E&O policy for free and shop specialist insurers; if you want to buy online in minutes, use a digital insurer. Quotes take 24 hours to ten business days, depending on your risk. 1,2,3

Read the Alliance Risk profile

Read the Alliance Risk Employment Practices Liability Insurance page

What Is Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance?

BHSI provides commercial and specialty insurance in the U.S., with product-specific industry lists that include healthcare, energy and technology. Online quote and application submissions are nonbinding. 6,7,8,9

Read the Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance profile

Read the Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Employment Practices Liability Insurance page

What Is Employment Practices Liability Insurance?

EPLI can help pay covered defense costs and losses when applicants or workers allege discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination or other workplace wrongdoing. If you employ people, check the claim definition, defense costs and prior acts. 11,12,13

Read the full coverage guide

Key Differences in Employment Practices Liability Insurance

What the Published Terms Emphasize

These figures serve different buying situations: Alliance Risk gives profile-based guidance for a broker to take to carriers, while Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance publishes a portfolio ceiling. The Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance limit may be shared with D&O, fiduciary, crime, and employed-lawyer coverage unless structured separately. Compare the EPLI amount remaining after other claims, not just the headline maximum. 4 10

A Second Decision Point

Alliance Risk’s risk review examines handbooks, harassment training, and termination practices, then markets the risk to carriers. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance policyholders can access EPL First, an online HR resource library and attorney helpline. Employers looking for help before a claim should ask what services are included, who may use them, and whether the helpline gives advice on a specific employment situation. 4 10

What to Confirm in Employment Practices Liability Insurance Quotes

  • Ask Alliance Risk whether its recommended limit is separate from D&O and fiduciary aggregates and which carrier will quote it. Ask Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance for a quote showing the EPLI sublimit or separate aggregate, and confirm EPL First access and helpline scope. 4 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.

Alliance Risk

-/ 10

Review Score

No reviews found

Alliance Risk has no customer ratings on the review sites we checked, so there's no Review Score yet. That says nothing bad about the company; it means you'll need to ask for references.[1][4][6]

Read Alliance Risk reviews

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

-/ 10

Review Score

No reviews found

The public ratings for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance are low but thin: Trustpilot shows 2.1 out of 5 from 9 reviews and BBB shows 1 out of 5 from 6. Both mix travel and commercial customers, so we don't count them in a score.[5][7]

Read Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance reviews

Offering Details

Alliance Risk vs Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance: Employment Practices Liability Insurance: documented features by provider

CriteriaAlliance Risk Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)Employment Practices Liability in Executive First Private Company Portfolio
Role in This Line

Alliance Risk places EPLI as a broker and describes itself as specializing in management liability for businesses operating in employment-litigation-heavy states such as California and New York. 4Company-reported. EPLI product page; Alliance Risk does not underwrite the policy itself.

BHSI lists Employment Practices Liability within its Executive First Private Company Portfolio comprehensive form with D&O, fiduciary, Commercial Crime and employed-lawyer insurance. 10Company-reported. This is portfolio marketing and does not show that EPL must be purchased with every other component.

Issuing Insurer

The reviewed EPLI page does not name the insurer that would issue a policy; coverage terms, conditions and availability are described as varying by carrier, state and individual circumstances. 4Not publicly disclosed. EPLI product page as read on 2026-09-23.

Confirm in your quote.

Who It’s For

Alliance Risk targets EPLI at small businesses under 50 employees, high-risk industries such as healthcare, staffing, retail and hospitality, multi-state employers, and companies with complex workforces including contractors and foreign nationals. 4Company-reported. EPLI product page; eligibility for a particular company depends on underwriting.

Alliance Risk says a company should add EPLI coverage as it crosses into double-digit headcount, since employment claims rise with every new hire. 5Company-reported. Management liability page's program-staging guidance, describing EPLI specifically among the three bundled lines.

BHSI identifies private companies with at least $10 million in revenue among portfolio target accounts. 10Company-reported. This is the portfolio’s target segment, not an eligibility guarantee for an EPL quote.

Coverage Features

Alliance Risk lists wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and failure to promote as typically covered EPLI claim types, with wage-and-hour violations often covered subject to a sublimit; it says claims under the National Labor Relations Act, criminal misconduct and benefit-plan ERISA breaches are excluded and routed to fiduciary liability coverage instead. 4Company-reported. EPLI product page; coverage table and exclusions; actual policy wording and sublimits vary by carrier.

BHSI explicitly includes Employment Practices Liability in the listed portfolio form. 10Company-reported. The source identifies the line but does not describe covered allegations, exclusions or terms.

Limits and Retentions

Alliance Risk recommends EPLI limits by profile: $500,000-$1M for companies under 20 employees with strong HR and no prior claims, $1M for most small businesses, $2M-$5M for 50-plus employees or multi-state operations, and a $2M-plus minimum for California or New York employers. 4Company-reported. EPLI product page's recommended-limit table; illustrative guidance, not a quote for any particular company.

Alliance Risk says entry-level management-liability packages that bundle EPLI with D&O and fiduciary often share a single aggregate limit, so a large D&O or fiduciary claim earlier in the policy year can reduce what is left for an EPLI claim; it says a specialist broker structures shared versus separate limits to manage that risk. 5Company-reported. Management liability page's discussion of bundled D&O, EPLI and fiduciary programs.

BHSI advertises shared or separate portfolio limits up to $50 million. 10Company-reported. A portfolio-wide maximum is not an EPL limit or a quote.

Risk Services

Alliance Risk's EPLI risk review evaluates a company's HR practices, such as its handbook, anti-harassment training and termination procedures, and markets the risk to EPLI carriers, saying it typically delivers proposals within a few business days. 4Company-reported. EPLI product page, Get your EPLI risk review section; timing is a company estimate, not a guarantee.

The portfolio page says policyholders can access EPL First, an online repository of HR training and compliance resources and an attorney helpline. 10Company-reported. The page describes portfolio services; it does not state the helpline’s scope or availability for every policyholder.

How to Apply

For an EPLI quote, Alliance Risk asks for employee count and locations, industry and states of operation, the types of employment decisions at issue, HR practices in place, existing coverage and limits, and a five-year claims history of EEOC charges, lawsuits and settlements. 4Company-reported. EPLI product page, Get your EPLI risk review section.

Confirm in your quote.

Claims Support

The reviewed EPLI page does not describe an Alliance Risk claims-handling or claims-advocacy process; it discusses what an EPLI policy covers rather than how Alliance Risk itself supports a claim. 4Not found in reviewed sources. EPLI product page as read on 2026-09-23.

Confirm in your quote.

Full Comparison

More Alliance Risk vs Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Comparisons

Other Employment Practices Liability Insurance Comparisons

Sources

Alliance Risk

  1. Technology Insurance. Alliance Risk; What is Technology Insurance?; Types of Technology; Types of Coverage; startup placement introduction; quote documents and process. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. Tech E&O Insurance. Alliance Risk; Opening placement description; Get Your Tech E&O Risk Review; What We Need for Your Quote; Policy Review. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. Get a Quote. Alliance Risk; Request form; Prefer to Call?; Why Alliance Risk? section. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  4. Employment Practices Liability (EPLI). Alliance Risk; EPLI Insurance: What Employment Practices Liability Covers, Costs, and Who Needs It; Who needs EPLI insurance?; What does EPLI insurance cover?; What EPLI does not cover; How to choose coverage and limits; Get your EPLI risk review. Accessed 2026-09-23.
  5. Management Liability Insurance: How D&O, EPLI, and Fiduciary Fit Together. Alliance Risk; The shared limit problem; How to structure the program as you scale. Accessed 2026-09-23.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

  1. At A Glance. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; United States section, zero-based PDF pages 49–53 (viewer pages 50–54): product/industry lists on pages 49–50; U.S. disclosure/version footer on page 53 is 2026-8-03 A. The 2026-09-14 A footer is on preceding European page 48, not the U.S. section. Accessed 2026-09-29.
  2. About Us. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; About BHSI; company profile page re-opened through official site on 2026-09-28; company says it is part of National Indemnity group. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  3. Terms of Service. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Important Information Concerning Use of this Web Site, paragraphs 2–4; nonbinding submissions, contracted-agent authority, state variation, product availability and policy-specific terms. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  4. Public Disclosure — Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Singapore Branch. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Singapore branch public disclosure, Company Profile ¶¶ 1–2; direct page opened 2026-09-28. ¶ 1 identifies BHSIC as a Nebraska-domiciled direct P&C insurer; ¶ 2 states BHSIC is wholly owned by National Indemnity Company, itself wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  5. Executive First Private Company Portfolio. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Product Highlights, lines 11–15: D&O, EPL, fiduciary, Commercial Crime and Employed Lawyers in one comprehensive form; shared or separate limits up to $50 million; EPL First HR resources and attorney helpline. Top Targets, lines 16–25: private companies with at least $10 million revenue and listed industries. Reopened 2026-09-30. Accessed 2026-09-30.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance Guide

  1. Employment Practices Liability Insurance. Insurance Information Institute; Opening; What EPLI covers; Steps to limit employment liability risk. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. Employment Practices Liability Coverage. Travelers; I.A/II.A p.1; III.A.4–6 p.7; II.F Employment Claim, PDF p.2; I.B p.1; II.U–V p.5; II.L p.3; III.A.9 and A.13, pp.7–8; III.B.2 p.8; IV.A Settlement, PDF pp.8–9. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. Liability Coverage Terms and Conditions. Travelers; III.F–H p.6; III.O pp.8–9; III.F p.6; III.B–D, PDF pp.3–5; III.E–F, PDF pp.5–6. 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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