Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Liberty Mutual: How Do They Compare for D&O Insurance?

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance describes informal investigations and derivative actions; Liberty Mutual places D&O within its ProShield management-liability package. 5,9

What Is Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance?

BHSI provides commercial and specialty insurance in the U.S., with product-specific industry lists that include healthcare, energy and technology. Online quote and application submissions are nonbinding. 1,2,3,4

Read the Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance profile

Read the Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance D&O Insurance page

What Is Liberty Mutual Business Insurance?

Liberty Mutual spans small-commercial, commercial, specialty, surety, and reinsurance businesses. The insurer and distribution route depend on the product, so check the offer and policy before you compare terms. 7,8

Read the Liberty Mutual profile

Read the Liberty Mutual D&O Insurance page

What Is Directors and Officers Insurance?

D&O insurance can help pay covered defense costs and losses from claims against company leaders over management decisions. If your organization has a board or executives, check whether the company itself is insured and whether legal bills reduce the limit. 10,11,12

Read the full coverage guide

Key Differences in D&O Insurance

Bundled management liability or D&O terms

Liberty Mutual includes D&O in its ProShield management-liability package, designed to combine coverages and reduce the need for separate endorsements. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance presents Executive First D&O with specific investigation and derivative-action features. A business should compare Liberty’s bundled line structure with BHSI’s named D&O terms, including whether the package shares aggregate limits with other management coverages. 9 5

Pre-claim coverage and organization type

Liberty Mutual lists investigation and pre-claim inquiry coverage and offers private-company and nonprofit versions of ProShield. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance describes government investigations, including informal inquiries of insured individuals without sublimits, and names large commercial and financial firms as target accounts. A nonprofit or smaller private company should confirm Liberty’s form availability, while a larger account should ask BHSI whether its target segment applies. 9 9 5 5

What to Confirm in D&O Insurance Quotes

  • Ask Liberty Mutual which ProShield lines share a limit and whether D&O can be issued separately; compare that structure with BHSI’s Executive First proposal. 9
  • Confirm which pre-claim inquiries the Liberty Mutual form covers and how that wording compares with BHSI’s informal investigation provision. 9 5

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.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

-/ 10

Review Score

No reviews found

The public ratings for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance are low but thin: Trustpilot shows 2.1 out of 5 from 9 reviews and BBB shows 1 out of 5 from 6. Both mix travel and commercial customers, so we don't count them in a score.[5][7]

Read Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance reviews

Liberty Mutual

7.2/ 10

Review Score

2 rated sources

Customers give Liberty Mutual 4.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 3,836 reviews, but that page mixes auto, home and life customers with business ones. For business insurance specifically, NerdWallet gives 3.0 out of 5 and reports more complaints than expected.[4][1]

Read Liberty Mutual reviews

Offering Details

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Liberty Mutual: D&O Insurance: documented features by provider

CriteriaExecutive First D&O Liability InsuranceLiberty Mutual ProShield Directors and Officers coverage
Role in This Line

Confirm in your quote.

Liberty Mutual includes D&O coverage in its ProShield management-liability package. 9Company-reported. Liberty Mutual’s cited product or program overview documents this description. It does not establish the issuing insurer for an individual quote, exact state or provincial availability, the policy form, complete exclusions, or terms offered to a particular buyer; confirm those in the quote and policy documents.

Who It’s For

The D&O page names large commercial and financial firms as target accounts. 5Company-reported. U.S. target-account description, not a complete eligibility rule or acceptance commitment.

The source describes private-company and not-for-profit ProShield options; it does not establish availability for every organization. 9Company-reported. Liberty Mutual’s cited product or program overview documents this description. It does not establish the issuing insurer for an individual quote, exact state or provincial availability, the policy form, complete exclusions, or terms offered to a particular buyer; confirm those in the quote and policy documents.

Coverage Features

The U.S. Executive First D&O page describes coverage for government investigations, including informal investigations of insured individuals without sublimits. 5Company-reported. U.S. D&O product-page summary; the actual policy, definitions, exclusions, conditions, insureds, and state forms control.

BHSI says its D&O product covers plaintiffs’ attorney fees and costs for shareholder derivative actions and company costs to investigate derivative demands or actions where no demand is made. 5Company-reported. U.S. D&O product-page summary; do not read as all derivative-action costs covered under every issued policy.

The page lists selected D&O features such as investigation and pre-claim inquiry coverage and separate options for private and not-for-profit companies; policy wording controls. 9Company-reported. Liberty Mutual’s cited product or program overview documents this description. It does not establish the issuing insurer for an individual quote, exact state or provincial availability, the policy form, complete exclusions, or terms offered to a particular buyer; confirm those in the quote and policy documents.

Limits and Retentions

Confirm in your quote.

The cited public overview does not establish the limits, deductibles, exclusions or form terms that would apply to a specific buyer. 9Not publicly disclosed. Ask for the quote and specimen or issued policy forms before treating a listed feature as covered.

Risk Services

BHSI describes full choice of defense counsel for the D&O product. 5Company-reported. Company-reported product feature; applicable policy terms and any state-specific requirements remain controlling.

Liberty Mutual describes ProShield as one package policy that combines multiple management-liability coverages and is designed to reduce the need for separate endorsements. 9Company-reported. Liberty Mutual’s cited product or program overview documents this description. It does not establish the issuing insurer for an individual quote, exact state or provincial availability, the policy form, complete exclusions, or terms offered to a particular buyer; confirm those in the quote and policy documents.

Full Comparison

More Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Liberty Mutual Comparisons

Other D&O Insurance Comparisons

Sources

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

  1. At A Glance. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; United States section, zero-based PDF pages 49–53 (viewer pages 50–54): product/industry lists on pages 49–50; U.S. disclosure/version footer on page 53 is 2026-8-03 A. The 2026-09-14 A footer is on preceding European page 48, not the U.S. section. Accessed 2026-09-29.
  2. About Us. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; About BHSI; company profile page re-opened through official site on 2026-09-28; company says it is part of National Indemnity group. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  3. Terms of Service. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Important Information Concerning Use of this Web Site, paragraphs 2–4; nonbinding submissions, contracted-agent authority, state variation, product availability and policy-specific terms. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  4. Public Disclosure — Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Singapore Branch. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Singapore branch public disclosure, Company Profile ¶¶ 1–2; direct page opened 2026-09-28. ¶ 1 identifies BHSIC as a Nebraska-domiciled direct P&C insurer; ¶ 2 states BHSIC is wholly owned by National Indemnity Company, itself wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  5. Executive First Directors & Officers Liability Insurance. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Product Highlights: government investigations, shareholder derivative actions, late-notice qualification, defense counsel selection; Top Targets: large commercial and financial firms, lines 6–19. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  6. Executive First Private Company Portfolio. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Product Highlights: D&O, EPL, Fiduciary, Commercial Crime and Employed Lawyers in one comprehensive form; shared or separate limits to $50m; EPL First services. Top Targets: private companies at $10m+ revenues and listed industries, lines 11–25. Portfolio limit is not a separate line limit. Accessed 2026-09-28.

Liberty Mutual

  1. Company Profile. Liberty Mutual Group; Strategic business units paragraph: US Retail Markets (individuals/small businesses; small commercial; countrywide) and Global Risk Solutions (mid-size/large businesses; commercial, specialty, reinsurance, surety; worldwide). Accessed 2026-09-29.
  2. Commercial Insurance Solutions. Liberty Mutual Business Insurance; Commercial solutions index names commercial auto and fleet, cyber, environmental liability, equipment breakdown, excess and surplus, general liability, healthcare liability, inland marine, management liability, multinational, ocean marine, professional liability, property, reinsurance, surety, umbrella/excess and workers compensation. Disclosure says policy insurer is named when offered, may be an affiliate/subsidiary or surplus-lines insurer; states/jurisdictions and actual policy terms vary. Accessed 2026-09-29.
  3. ProShield. Liberty Mutual Business Insurance; Opening paragraphs identify package combining directors and officers, employment practices, fiduciary, and crime coverages; D&O and crime sections describe examples of exposures and selected coverage features. Examples are not policy terms. Accessed 2026-09-29.

D&O Insurance Guide

  1. Glossary of Business Insurance Terms. The Hartford; Directors and Officers Liability Insurance; Errors and Omissions Insurance; Employment Practices Liability Insurance. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. The Chubb Primary Directors & Officers and Entity Securities Liability Insurance. Chubb Group of Insurance Companies; hosted by eperils; I.A–C p.1; I.C p.1; I and III.A–B pp.1–2; VI Reporting pp.3–4. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. Private Company Directors and Officers Liability Coverage. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America; I.A–C p.1; I.C p.1; Header p.1 and VI.A pp.6–7. 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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