Beazley vs Cowbell: How Do They Compare for Crime Insurance?

Beazley underwrites commercial crime and advertises limits up to $25 million; Cowbell's crime module is underwritten by Zurich, sold only through appointed Zurich E&S wholesalers via its API, and targets private companies under 250 employees and $50M in assets.

Beazley sells standalone commercial crime with limits up to $25 million, including social-engineering wire-fraud cover. Cowbell's crime option is a module of Zurich's Select Plus management-liability product, limited to private companies under 250 employees and $50 million in assets. ^1,^2,³

What Are the Key Differences Between Beazley and Cowbell Crime Insurance?

Who Qualifies and How You Buy

Beazley writes crime for ordinary commercial companies and sends banks and other financial institutions to its separate fidelity bonds. Cowbell's crime module is only reachable through an appointed Zurich wholesale broker using Cowbell's platform, so your own broker has to go through one of them. Choose Beazley if you have more than 250 employees, more than $50 million in assets or need a high limit; choose Cowbell if you are a small private company that wants crime alongside other Zurich management-liability modules. ¹ ² ³

Limits and Published Coverage Detail

Beazley publishes a $25 million maximum and a long list of insuring agreements, from employee theft and forgery to computer fraud, client-property loss and credit-card fraud. Cowbell describes crime in one sentence (theft, fraud and embezzlement by employees or third parties) and publishes no limit or retention, so you learn the numbers only at quote. ¹ ² ³

Wire Fraud and Claims

Beazley's fraudulent-instruction cover pays for wires sent to someone posing as a vendor, client or colleague, but only if you verified the instruction out of band, such as a call-back. Beazley also says its underwriters and claims staff work side by side. Cowbell's pages describe claims backing only for Select Plus as a whole and no crime-specific risk-control help. ¹ ²

What Should You Confirm in Beazley and Cowbell Crime Insurance Quotes?

For Cowbell, confirm your broker can reach an appointed Zurich wholesaler. ²
Ask Cowbell for the crime limit and retention, and ask which Zurich entity issues the policy. ³
Ask Beazley for retentions and any sublimits by insuring agreement; only the $25 million maximum is published. ¹
Before relying on Beazley's wire-fraud cover, confirm your payment process meets its out-of-band verification condition and whether you need its separate Social Engineering application. ¹

Beazley vs Cowbell Crime Insurance Compared

Beazley vs Cowbell: Crime Insurance: documented features by provider

Criteria	Beazley Commercial Crime	Cowbell / Zurich Select Plus Crime Coverage
Who It’s For	Beazley markets Commercial Crime to ordinary commercial companies, not to banks or other financial institutions, which it addresses separately through Financial Fidelity Bonds. ¹Company-reported. Product page target-customer language; no industry list or size threshold is published.	Cowbell targets this crime module at private companies with under 250 employees and under $50M in assets, across the same target industries listed for the broader Select Plus product. ²Company-reported. FAQ 'What size accounts are targeted?' and Target industries list.
How to Apply	Beazley lists a standalone Crime application, a Massachusetts-specific Crime application and a separate Social Engineering application among its Tools & Resources, distinct from the Financial Fidelity Bond application forms on the same page. ¹Company-reported. Tools & Resources section of the product page; the page does not describe an online quote or self-service purchase flow.	This crime module is accessed only by appointed Zurich E&S wholesalers through the Cowbell platform's API; it is not sold directly to businesses. ²Company-reported. FAQ 'How can I access the Zurich Select Plus management liability product through Cowbell?'.
Coverage Features	Beazley says Commercial Crime protects an organization from loss of money and securities caused by theft by its own employees, plus third-party-related losses such as forgery or alteration, on-premises and in-transit loss, money-order and counterfeit-currency fraud, computer fraud, client-property loss, credit-card fraud and related expense coverage. ¹Company-reported. Product-page description of insuring agreements; exclusions, conditions and available sub-limits appear only in the issued policy. Beazley says its Commercial Crime policy includes a fraudulent-instruction (social-engineering) insuring agreement covering losses from wire transfers made on instructions from someone posing as a vendor, client or authorized employee, and that this cover is conditioned on out-of-band authentication of payment instructions. ¹Company-reported. Product-page description; Beazley says the out-of-band-authentication condition can be removed for insureds with documented controls and response plans, subject to an additional premium.	Cowbell describes crime coverage as protecting against losses resulting from criminal acts such as theft, fraud, and embezzlement committed by employees or third parties. ²Company-reported. FAQ 'What is the difference between management liability and D&O?'.
Role in This Line	Beazley underwrites Commercial Crime insurance for commercial companies. The same product page separately describes Financial Fidelity Bonds, a related but distinct product line for financial institutions. ¹Company-reported. Crime and Fidelity product page; distinguishes the commercial-company product from the financial-institution fidelity bond described on the same page.	Crime coverage is one module within Cowbell's distribution of Zurich's Select Plus management liability product; Cowbell operates the platform, Zurich underwrites the module. Zurich's own page lists 'Crime Insurance' as one of the four modules a buyer can combine. ^2,³Company-reported. Management liability page intro and module list; Zurich page module-name section.