Amelia Risk vs
Beazley D&O Insurance
Amelia Risk brokers D&O without naming an insurer; Beazley underwrites private-company D&O with limits up to $20 million.
What Is Amelia Risk?
Amelia Risk is a women-owned San Francisco insurance brokerage that says it designs commercial programs for startups, consumer packaged goods, technology companies, and consumer-product brands by approaching multiple insurers rather than selling a self-serve policy. 1,2,3
What Is Beazley?
Beazley is a specialty insurance group whose MediaTech product combines technology and professional E&O, media and cyber coverage. Separate offerings address executive liability, digital health and other specialty risks. 10,11,12,13
What Is Directors and Officers Insurance?
Directors and officers liability insurance addresses covered claims alleging wrongful acts in managing an organization. 15
Key Differences in D&O Insurance
Who Issues the Policy
Amelia Risk arranges D&O for clients rather than underwriting it, and its reviewed sources do not name an insurer. 4 Beazley underwrites private-company D&O itself, standalone or bundled with employment practices and fiduciary liability in ExecuGuard. 14 12
Beazley says admitted and non-admitted versions are available, without naming the specific Beazley entity that issues a given policy. 12 Amelia Risk likewise does not name a carrier on the placement. 4
Defense Election
Beazley lets the policyholder choose “duty to defend” or “pay on behalf” and says it pays 100% of defense costs for covered loss. 14 Amelia Risk’s reviewed sources do not describe a duty-to-defend or pay-on-behalf election. 4
Limits
Beazley advertises private-company D&O limits up to US $20 million. 14 Amelia Risk’s reviewed sources do not publish a limit figure. 4
What to Confirm in D&O Insurance Quotes
- Ask Beazley whether the quote is duty to defend or pay on behalf, and whether Excess Side A is attached. 14
- Ask Amelia Risk which carrier would issue the policy. 4
- Confirm whether Beazley’s $20 million advertised maximum is the quoted limit. 14
- Ask Amelia Risk for a bind timeline against the two-to-three-week budget its co-founder describes. 5
Offering Details
Amelia Risk vs Beazley D&O Insurance: documented features by provider
| Criteria | Amelia Risk Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability Insurance Brokerage | Beazley D&O – Private Companies |
|---|---|---|
| Role in This Line | Amelia Risk arranges D&O liability coverage for clients, describing and structuring the policy around protecting individual directors and officers, the board, and the company entity, rather than underwriting it directly. 4Company-reported. D&O product page as of 23 September 2026. Does not establish who issues a particular client's policy. | Beazley underwrites private-company directors and officers (D&O) liability itself, offered as a standalone product on its D&O - Private Companies page and bundled with employment practices and fiduciary liability coverage in its ExecuGuard package policy. 14,12Company-reported. US private-company D&O as described on the two reviewed product pages; does not establish which entity issues a particular policy. |
| Issuing Insurer | The reviewed pages do not name an insurer for D&O placements; Amelia's marketing describes access to underwriters, wholesale brokers and carrier partners generally, without attributing any of them to D&O specifically. 4Not publicly disclosed. D&O product page and podcast transcript, checked 23 September 2026. | Neither the D&O - Private Companies page nor the ExecuGuard page names the specific Beazley insurance entity that issues the policy; ExecuGuard states both admitted and non-admitted versions are available, so the issuing carrier depends on the policy placed. 14,12Not found in reviewed sources. Both product pages as read on 2026-09-23; the issued policy's declarations control the actual insurer. |
| Who It’s For | Amelia Risk lists D&O among the policies it places for startups, technology companies, CPG brands, and consumer-product companies. 6,7,8,9Company-reported. Specialty pages' "policies to consider" lists, marketed segments rather than an underwriting appetite statement. Amelia Risk says most companies consider D&O once they've taken outside funding, that Series A term sheets usually require it, and that it's becoming more common to see D&O bought at the seed stage as seed rounds grow larger. 4,5Company-reported. D&O product page timing guidance, restated in more detail by co-founder Danielle Holyoake in the company's podcast episode. | The D&O page targets privately held companies of all sizes facing litigation such as employment allegations, fraud and misrepresentation claims, without a stated employee-count or revenue threshold on that page. 14,12Company-reported. Private-company D&O only; ExecuGuard buyers can additionally choose to share limits across D&O, EPL and fiduciary coverages. |
| Coverage Features | Amelia describes the D&O policy as covering the individual directors and officers, the board, and the entity, with claims typically alleging mismanagement and most often coming from shareholders, though they can also come from regulators, competitors, or employees. 4Company-reported. D&O product page description; the actual policy wording, definitions, and exclusions depend on the issuing insurer and the client's declarations. In the company's podcast, co-founder Danielle Holyoake says the D&O policies she has reviewed and sold generally define "directors and officers" broadly enough to include employees and even interns, rather than naming specific individuals on the policy. 5Company-reported. Her description of policies she has personally reviewed and sold, not a specimen form or a statement about every D&O policy Amelia places. | The D&O product lets the policyholder choose between a "duty to defend" or "pay on behalf" claim-handling structure, and Beazley says it pays 100% of defense costs for covered loss. 14Company-reported. D&O - Private Companies product page; actual defense obligations and cost-sharing are set by the issued policy. Beazley offers a dedicated additional Excess Side A limit that responds for individual directors and officers when the company cannot indemnify them or the underlying limit is exhausted, plus an optional employed-lawyers errors-and-omissions extension. 14Company-reported. D&O - Private Companies product page; availability and pricing of the extension depend on underwriting. |
| Limits and Retentions | Not described in the reviewed sources. | Beazley advertises private-company D&O limits up to US $20 million, on either an admitted or non-admitted (surplus lines) basis; actual limits and retentions are set by underwriting and appear on the declarations. 14,12Company-reported. Advertised maximum capacity, not a guaranteed quote amount. |
| Risk Services | The reviewed D&O materials don't describe governance training, board-advisory services, or other risk-control services specific to D&O policyholders beyond the coverage description and general claims-advocacy language. 4,5Not found in reviewed sources. D&O product page and podcast transcript as read on 23 September 2026; does not establish that no such services exist, only that these pages don't describe them. | D&O policyholders get pre-approved choice-of-counsel flexibility, and law-firm insureds can access a bespoke executive-risk wording through Beazley's related Practice Protect product. 14Company-reported. D&O - Private Companies product page; scope and terms of the Practice Protect wording were not independently reviewed. |
| How to Apply | Amelia's co-founder says D&O underwriting can take as little as a few days to a few weeks once complete information is provided, and recommends budgeting two to three weeks; she also cautions founders not to wait until a funding round or other transaction is imminent, because decisions made before a claims-made D&O policy starts aren't covered by it. 5Company-reported. Illustrative timing comment in a company-hosted podcast interview, not a binding service-level agreement. | Beazley lists a downloadable EPL renewal application as a tool on the D&O page and names regional Executive Risk underwriters and brokers as contacts, but the reviewed page does not describe a self-service online quoting flow for new D&O business. 14Company-reported. D&O - Private Companies product page as read on 2026-09-23; buyers typically work through a broker or underwriter contact. |
| Claims Support | Not described in the reviewed sources. | Beazley illustrates its D&O claims approach with a securities class-action and shareholder derivative-action scenario in which its claims team worked with the insured's defense counsel toward a dismissal, avoiding a settlement; this is a single company-reported example, not audited claims-outcome data. 12Company-reported. ExecuGuard page scenario section; outcome statistics are not independently verified. |
Full Comparison
More Amelia Risk vs Beazley Comparisons
Other D&O Insurance Comparisons
Sources
Amelia Risk
- Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Who is Amelia?; specialty tiles for startups, CPG, technology, and consumer products; schema.org Organization name and logo; footer locations San Francisco and East Bay; Client Login Portal, Pay Now, and Privacy links; official logo asset. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Our Specialties. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Narrow industry-vertical focus; underwriters, brokers, and carrier partners; four-step process; claims advocacy sentence; specialty sections for startups, CPG, technology, and consumer products. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- About Us. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Opening brokerage description; How we're different (no multiple PDFs to print, sign, and scan); We do the right thing (underwriters, wholesale brokers, and strategic partners). Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Directors and Officers Liability. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; What's covered by a Directors & Officers Liability (D&O) Policy?; When should a company buy a Directors & Officers Liability (D&O) Policy? Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Podcast Episode – Beyond The Certificate With Startup CPG. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Danielle Holyoake (CRO and co-founder) on D&O: why it comes up during fundraising, who it protects, when claims typically arise, underwriting timing of days to a few weeks with complete information, budgeting two to three weeks, and the caution against waiting until a transaction is imminent. Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Insurance For Startups. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Insurance policies for startups to consider: Directors & Officers Liability (D&O). Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Insurance For Technology Companies. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Insurance policies for tech companies to consider: Directors & Officers Liability (D&O). Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Insurance For CPG Companies. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Insurance policies for CPG companies to consider: Directors & Officers Liability (D&O). Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Consumer Product Insurance. Amelia Risk Insurance Brokers; Insurance policies for Consumer Product companies to consider: Directors & Officers Liability (D&O). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Beazley
- MediaTech for Small Businesses. Beazley; Opening product description; What we offer: E&O (Tech and Professional), Media, Cyber coverage includes; How can we help; SME placement paragraph; Tools & Resources. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Legal Information. Beazley; Website conditions: US jurisdiction availability, surplus lines and policy wording disclaimers; Beazley plc identity. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Execuguard (Combined EPL, D&O, and Fiduciary). Beazley; What we offer: separate or shared limits among EPL, D&O and fiduciary; Limits up to US $20,000,000, both admitted and non-admitted available; Examples or Scenarios: California securities class action/derivative action. Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Virtual Care. Beazley; Available Coverages; Who we can help; Where is this offered. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- D&O - Private Companies. Beazley; What we offer; How can we help: duty to defend/pay on behalf, 100% defense for covered loss, Excess Side A limit, private placement coverage, Practice Protect for lawyers; Up to US $20,000,000; Tools & Resources: EPL_RenewalApp. Accessed 2026-09-23.
D&O Insurance Guide
- Glossary of Business Insurance Terms. The Hartford; Directors and Officers Liability Insurance; Errors and Omissions Insurance; Employment Practices Liability Insurance. Accessed 2026-09-16.




