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

Aon says cyber policies vary and describes brokerage review and claims advocacy. Founder Shield highlights healthcare, financial services, SaaS and e-commerce, and places cyber policies with third-party carriers it says are rated A- or better by AM Best. 3,9

What Is Aon?

Aon’s U.S. Commercial Risk terms describe brokerage for certain insurance programs, while its Middle Market page describes a dedicated practice for mid-sized organizations across North America. The public materials reviewed do not identify the licensed producer or insurer for a particular placement. Ask which entity will produce each line and which insurer will issue the policy; request jurisdiction details for the proposed placement and ask how compensation and claim notice work for your account. 1,2

Read the Aon profile

Read the Aon 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

Named industries and placement scope

Aon describes cyber services for organizations managing risk without publishing a full industry eligibility schedule. Founder Shield calls cyber a priority for healthcare, financial services, SaaS and e-commerce, citing data breaches and interruption exposure. Founder Shield places rather than underwrites the policy and says it uses carriers rated A- or better; the actual insurer depends on placement. Buyers in the named sectors can use this as an initial fit signal, then verify eligibility and carrier identity. 3 9

Coverage branches and response vendors

Aon describes claims advocacy and relationships with incident-response providers whose contracts are separate. Founder Shield lists electronic-data loss, interruption income, extra expense, extortion payments, notification and reputation-management costs. That list gives buyers a checklist for their quote, but does not settle exclusions or sublimits. Ask which response vendors are available and whether their fees consume policy limits. 3 9

What to Confirm in Cyber Insurance Quotes

  • Ask Founder Shield which breach, interruption, extortion and notification protections are included, and identify any exclusions for stolen intellectual property. 3 9
  • Ask Aon about response-provider contracts; ask Founder Shield to name the insurer, policy limit, retention and service contacts. 3 9

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.

Aon

6.1/ 10

Review Score

3 rated sources

Public ratings for Aon are low: Trustpilot shows 1.2 out of 5 from 782 reviews, and BBB shows 1.6 from five. Aon is a global firm, so those pages mostly reflect other parts of the business, not large U.S. commercial accounts.[4][6][7]

Read Aon 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

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

CriteriaAon Cyber brokerage and risk-advisory offeringFounder Shield Cyber Liability Insurance
Role in This Line

Aon describes cyber insurance brokerage and risk-advisory services. It is not identified as the risk-bearing insurer, and the global page does not name the carrier for a particular placement. 3Company-reported. Aon’s official global product/capability page. The statement is limited to Aon’s marketing of brokerage or advisory services, not policy issuance.

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

The reviewed page does not identify the insurer or the legal producing entity for a specific placement. Ask Aon to identify both for the quoted risk. 3Not found in reviewed sources. Aon’s global product/capability page reviewed 2026-09-30; no buyer quote, binder or policy was reviewed. This does not establish that no insurer or producing entity is available.

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

Aon describes cyber services for organizations managing cyber risk. Its global practice page does not publish a complete industry, revenue, security-control or state-by-state eligibility schedule. 3Company-reported. Audience stated by Aon on its global capability page; this does not establish a specific applicant’s eligibility or placement availability by U.S. state.

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

Aon describes cyber insurance as one part of cyber risk financing and says it reviews policy offerings because terms and conditions vary. For professional-services firms, it discusses coordinating cyber and professional-liability coverage. This is brokerage guidance and does not establish the terms of any cyber policy. 3Company-reported. Aon’s broker-authored explanation of the insurance line. It does not establish an individual insured’s policy entitlement; the insurer’s form, endorsements and declarations control.

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 a standard buyer-specific limit, retention or deductible for this placement. Confirm amounts, sublimits and conditions in the quote and issued policy. 3Not publicly disclosed. Aon’s global product/capability page reviewed 2026-09-30; no buyer quote or policy form was reviewed.

Confirm in your quote.

Risk Services

Aon describes cyber claims advocacy and preparation and relationships with third-party incident-response providers. The retained official source notes that provider contracts are separate, no performance guarantee is made, and referral remuneration may occur; confirm the providers, scope and compensation applicable to a client. 3Company-reported. Company-reported brokerage and advisory services. Account-specific service terms are not stated.

Confirm in your quote.

How to Apply

Confirm in your quote.

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.

Full Comparison

More Aon vs Founder Shield Comparisons

Other Cyber Insurance Comparisons

Sources

Aon

  1. Commercial Risk Solutions U.S. Brokerage Terms of Service. Aon; Lines 120–127: certain-program broker-of-record scope, consultation, application assistance, client signature and bind instruction, and account administration; lines 140–147: variable and contingent compensation, potential placement incentive, and client request route; lines 206–213: no price guarantee and surplus-lines limitations; lines 229–231: client insurer-notice duty unless separately agreed. Accessed 2026-09-29.
  2. Middle Market Clients. Aon; Lines 125–132: mid-sized organizations and middle-market framing; lines 165–173: dedicated practice and North America statement; lines 188–224: Commercial Risk capabilities. No numeric company-size cutoff or U.S.-only eligibility rule is stated on the reviewed page. Accessed 2026-09-29.
  3. Cyber Risk. Aon; Global cyber risk financing/insurance overview and brokerage practice; claims preparation and advocacy, incident response providers and referral remuneration disclosures, lines 194–230 as retained in Aon’s official source record; Professional Services Practice cyber cross-reference, lines 151–156. 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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