Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs 
Markel Insurance: How Do They Compare for Cyber Insurance?
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 Cyber Insurance page
Markel Insurance: Specialty Business and Products
Markel Insurance is Markel Group's specialty and small-business insurance business, with offerings across packages, workers' compensation, cyber, professional and management liability, property, marine, and surety. Products use different insurers and distribution routes, so compare the issuer and terms shown on the specific quote. 7,8
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. 10,11
Key Differences in Cyber Insurance
Breadth of listed coverage components
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance names direct breach response, extortion, third-party exposure, and business interruption following a network-security failure. Markel’s Cyber 360 summary lists business and dependent interruption, eCrime, privacy/security liability, PCI, media liability, and technology professional liability. A business exposed to vendor outages or payment-card obligations should ask Markel which options are available and compare their triggers against BHSI’s response-cost wording. 5 9
Security controls and sector appetite
Markel identifies strong security controls as an eligibility consideration and lists finance, professional services, retail, manufacturing, technology, and healthcare among its sectors. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance names professional-services firms and separately categorizes technology, telecom, and financial businesses in its appetite overview. If your controls or sector are close to an underwriting boundary, compare the classification each insurer uses before investing time in a submission. 9 5
What to Confirm in Cyber Insurance Quotes
- Ask Markel which Cyber 360 options can be quoted together and what limits, exclusions, and conditions apply; request BHSI’s schedule for response, extortion, and interruption. 9 5
- Describe your security controls and industry to each underwriting team; confirm whether Markel’s strong-controls criterion or BHSI’s target/selective sector category affects eligibility. 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
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 reviewsMarkel Insurance
Review Score
2 rated sources
There is little public customer feedback on Markel. Trustpilot shows 2.5 out of 5 from just 5 reviews, and BBB lists 12 complaints closed in the last three years.[4][3]
Read Markel Insurance reviewsOffering Details
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance: Cyber Insurance: documented features by provider
| Criteria | Professional First Network Security & Privacy | Markel cyber (official overview) |
|---|---|---|
| Role in This Line | BHSI describes both a stand-alone Network Security & Privacy policy and blended E&O/Cyber forms in Professional First. 5,6Company-reported. Form selection depends on the risk and proposal; the overview does not establish issuance for an individual applicant. | Markel describes offering cyber for the audience stated on the cited product page. 9Company-reported. cyber marketed by markel; scope is limited to the cited official product overview and described audience. This is not a policy form or a universal eligibility statement. |
| Who It’s For | The Network Security & Privacy page names professional-services firms among its targets; the overview separately lists technology, telecom and financial-sector customers in targeted or selective categories. 5,6Company-reported. The overview’s class lists have different appetite labels; neither is a blanket eligibility rule. | Businesses with strong security controls; listed sectors include financial and professional services, retail, manufacturing, technology, and healthcare. 9Company-reported. cyber marketed by markel; scope is limited to the cited official product overview and described audience. This is not a policy form or a universal eligibility statement. |
| Coverage Features | BHSI markets third-party breach exposures, direct breach-response and extortion expenses, and business interruption from a network-security failure. 5Company-reported. The product page is a coverage summary; conditions, sublimits and exclusions require the policy and endorsements. | The cited product page describes Cyber 360 options including business interruption, dependent business interruption, eCrime, privacy/security liability, PCI DSS liability, media liability, and technology professional liability. Marketing description only; actual coverage, exclusions, conditions, limits, and availability depend on the issued policy and jurisdiction. 9Company-reported. cyber marketed by markel; scope is limited to the cited official product overview and described audience. This is not a policy form or a universal eligibility statement. |
| Limits and Retentions | Confirm in your quote. | The cited overview does not set a universal limit or retention for this line. Ask for the proposed policy form, limits, retentions, exclusions, and conditions in the quote. 9Not publicly disclosed. Only the cited marketing page was reviewed for published limit and retention information; no policy-form entitlement is inferred. |
| Risk Services | BHSI lists eRiskHub as a resource with its Network Security & Privacy product. 5Company-reported. The product-page listing does not define the resource’s service scope or confirm availability on an individual policy. | Confirm in your quote. |
| How to Apply | Confirm in your quote. | The page invites prospective customers or brokers to contact Markel or the named underwriting team. The page does not establish a quote, bind, or coverage-effective timeline. 9Company-reported. cyber marketed by markel; scope is limited to the cited official product overview and described audience. This is not a policy form or a universal eligibility statement. |
Full Comparison
More Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance Comparisons
Other Cyber Insurance Comparisons
Sources
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Professional First Network Security & Privacy Policy. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Product Highlights, lines 6–19: third-party breach exposures, regulatory investigations, direct response/extortion expense, electronic-content media liability and network-security business interruption; target professional services. Retained canonical source record accessed 2026-09-28; direct re-open failed in this session. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Professional First Professional Liability Overview. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; PDF pp. 1–2: separately named Professional First Media Liability and Network Security & Privacy; targeted customer categories; in-house claims handling; product portfolio descriptions. Version 2026-06-03-A; re-opened 2026-09-30. Accessed 2026-09-30.
Markel Insurance
- About us. Markel; Markel at a glance; description of Markel Insurance within Markel Group Inc. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Markel Group Inc. 2025 Form 10-K. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; filed by Markel Group Inc.; Cover page; Part I, Item 1 Business—Markel Insurance, U.S. Wholesale and Specialty, Programs and Solutions; Part II, Item 7/8 for group and segment risks. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Cyber Insurance Coverage. Markel; Markel Cyber 360; coverages available; business disruption; fraud; privacy/security liability; technology professional liability. Accessed 2026-09-30.
Cyber Insurance Guide
- 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.
- 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.
