At-Bay vs Founder Shield: How Do They Compare for Cyber Insurance?

Founder Shield is a broker placing cyber only with carriers rated A- or above, for healthcare, finance and SaaS; At-Bay places it through its own producer and says eligible new E&S business uses its own paper.

Founder Shield calls cyber a priority for healthcare, financial services, SaaS and e-commerce and says it places only with carriers rated A- or better. At-Bay includes Stance on every policy and publishes primary and excess appetite up to $5 billion in revenue and $10 million in limits. ^5,¹

What Are the Key Differences Between At-Bay and Founder Shield Cyber Insurance?

An A-Minus Carrier Screen Versus a Named Product With Stance

Founder Shield, a retail brokerage, calls cyber a priority for healthcare, financial services, SaaS and e-commerce and says it places policies only with carriers rated A- or better by AM Best, chosen for the client's industry, rather than underwriting itself. At-Bay sells a feature-based cyber product with Stance included and published appetite up to $5 billion in revenue and $10 million in limits. Choose Founder Shield if you sit in those four industries and want that rating screen; choose At-Bay if you want Stance on a named product with those published ceilings. ⁵ ⁷ ¹

Typical Exclusions Versus Listed Crime and Interruption Grants

Founder Shield lists electronic-data loss, income loss from a system outage, extortion payments and breach-notification costs, and says policies typically exclude stolen-IP value, internal system upgrades and possible future lost profits. You request coverage through its site or an advisor rather than binding directly. At-Bay lists social engineering for all classes, contingent business interruption, cryptojacking and bricking at full limits, and a breach-coach line. Founder Shield does not publish dollar limits. ⁵ ¹ ⁴

What Should You Confirm in At-Bay and Founder Shield Cyber Insurance Quotes?

Ask Founder Shield which A- or better carrier it will use for your industry. ⁷
Ask At-Bay which appetite band and Stance tier apply. ¹
Compare Founder Shield's typical IP exclusions with At-Bay's listed cryptojacking and bricking grants. ⁵ ¹

At-Bay vs Founder Shield Cyber Insurance Compared

At-Bay vs Founder Shield: Cyber Insurance: documented features by provider

Criteria	At-Bay Cyber Insurance	Founder Shield Cyber Liability Insurance
How to Apply	You apply for At-Bay cyber coverage by emailing a submission to underwriting@at-bay.com or by requesting an automated quote through At-Bay's Broker Platform. ¹Company-reported. Product-page submission instructions; the Broker Platform route is limited to accounts within its lower appetite ceilings.	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. ^6,⁷Company-reported. About-us and carrier-selection pages describe the general placement process, not a line-specific application form.
Coverage Features	At-Bay lists direct and contingent business interruption and system failure coverage, social engineering and invoice manipulation coverage for all classes of business, full limits for cryptojacking and bricking, broad cyber extortion coverage including cryptocurrency payment, and reputational-harm coverage for PR costs from adverse publicity. ¹Company-reported. Product-page coverage highlights; the issued policy and endorsements control actual terms. At-Bay sells cyber insurance with optional InsurSec security tiers: Core includes vulnerability monitoring and a fraud-defense sub-limit; Advanced adds a reduced ransomware retention and a zero-hour ransomware waiting period; Complete adds a $0 financial-fraud retention and a $1 million financial-fraud sub-limit. Each higher tier requires a separately purchased managed detection and response (MDR) subscription. ¹Company-reported. Product-page InsurSec package descriptions and footnotes; availability depends on the business's risk profile and qualifying conditions.	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. ⁵Company-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. ⁵Company-reported. Product page; specific exclusions depend on the issued policy.
Role in This Line	At-Bay places cyber insurance through its disclosed producer, At-Bay Insurance Services LLC, which is licensed as an insurance producer in all 50 states. At-Bay says eligible new excess-and-surplus (E&S) cyber business has been written on its own carrier paper, At-Bay Specialty Insurance Company, since August 2023. ^2,³Company-reported. Producer role from the current license page; carrier role from a 2023 transition announcement, not confirmed for every current cyber quote.	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. ⁶Company-reported. About-us page; applies to Founder Shield's brokerage model generally, restated here for this line.
Issuing Insurer	The current cyber product page does not name an issuing insurer. At-Bay's 2023 announcement says new E&S cyber business is quoted on At-Bay Specialty Insurance Company paper, but that is a historical statement, not a per-quote disclosure. ^1,³Company-reported. Cyber product page checked today names no insurer; the carrier-transition release is dated August 2023 and does not cover every current state or account.	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. ⁷Company-reported. General carrier-selection FAQ, not specific to this line's placements.