Amelia Risk vs USI Insurance Services D&O Insurance

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.

USI is a broker for D&O coverage. It says it helps clients identify D&O exposures, review any existing management liability policies for gaps, and place coverage, including through its own named endorsement package, ExecuSafe. ¹³Company-reported. ExecuSafe article's "How USI Can Help" section.

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.

USI does not name the insurer that underwrites ExecuSafe or other D&O placements on the pages reviewed; it describes ExecuSafe as an endorsement package it applies to policies placed with the market. ¹³Not publicly disclosed. ExecuSafe article and Technology/Business Services practice pages as read on 2026-09-23.

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.

USI targets small- and medium-sized businesses for ExecuSafe, saying many either skip D&O coverage or buy insufficient limits because their brokers do not help them identify the exposure. Its Technology practice separately places D&O for software, hardware and communications clients from seed stage through IPO. ^13,11Company-reported. ExecuSafe article eligibility framing and Technology practice client description.

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.

USI says D&O insurance is meant to protect a company's leadership from personal loss in a lawsuit, since the corporate veil does not shield directors and officers from personal liability for the business's actions and debts. It lists breach of contract, breach of duty, misrepresentation, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, securities lawsuits and creditor lawsuits as common claim types the coverage responds to. ¹³Company-reported. ExecuSafe article's description of D&O purpose and claim types; actual insuring agreements and exclusions are set by the issued policy.

Not described in the reviewed sources.

USI cites a 2016 Chubb survey that found 43% of private companies carry no D&O coverage, with an average private-company D&O claim cost of $450,000, but the article does not publish USI's own placed limits, retentions or premium ranges for ExecuSafe. ¹³Not publicly disclosed. Third-party statistic cited by USI to illustrate exposure, not USI's own placement data.

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.

USI's Technology practice cites a case study where its benchmarking analysis showed a software company was buying more D&O limit than peers with similar risk profiles, and says the resulting change saved the client more than $100,000 per year in D&O premium. ¹¹Company-reported. Single case study on the Technology practice page; company-reported outcome, not independently verified.

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.

USI directs small- and medium-sized businesses interested in ExecuSafe to email Select.Business@usi.com; its Technology and Business Services practices separately route inquiries to pcinquiries@usi.com or a local USI office. ^13,11,14Company-reported. Contact instructions on the ExecuSafe article and the Technology and Business Services pages.