Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs 
Markel Insurance: How Do They Compare for Professional Liability (E&O) 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 Professional Liability (E&O) 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. 8,9
Read the Markel Insurance profile
Read the Markel Insurance Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance page
What Is Professional Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance?
Professional liability can help pay defense costs and covered losses when a client says your advice or service caused financial harm. If customers rely on your work, list every service you provide and check the claims-made reporting and prior-work terms. 11,12,13,14
Key Differences in Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance
Class fit and stated size
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance names staffing, management consulting, marketing and real-estate firms for Miscellaneous Professional Liability and law-firm size bands for Lawyers Professional Liability. Markel describes its miscellaneous E&O product for small businesses in targeted industries up to $5 million revenue. These are different kinds of guidance: BHSI identifies professional categories, while Markel gives a revenue boundary for one product. Ask each underwriter whether your services and annual revenue fit the particular form being quoted. 6 10
Limits and form specificity
Markel states a maximum of $2 million for miscellaneous E&O, subject to the quote; BHSI’s reviewed professional claims do not state a limit for this line. The figures cannot establish equivalent available limits or price. BHSI’s design-industry form also combines professional liability with pollution, media, technology and cyber exposures, a scope that needs to be matched to Markel’s separate E&O product wording before comparing. 10 7
What to Confirm in Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance Quotes
- Ask Markel whether your revenue qualifies and what limit below its stated $2 million maximum is available. 10
- Ask BHSI for the profession-specific form and its offered per-claim and aggregate limits. 6
- Compare whether technology, media, pollution or cyber exposures are included in the form you receive. 7 10
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance and Markel Insurance 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
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
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 reviewsBerkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance Professional Liability (E&O) Compared
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance: Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance: documented features by provider
| Criteria | Professional First Professional Liability portfolio | Markel professional errors omissions (official overview) |
|---|---|---|
| Role in This Line | Confirm in your quote. | Markel describes offering professional errors omissions for the audience stated on the cited product page. 10Company-reported. professional errors omissions 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 overview names staffing firms, management consultants, marketing firms and real-estate firms as targeted customers for Miscellaneous Professional Liability; it separately lists law-firm size bands for Lawyers Professional Liability. 6Company-reported. U.S. Professional First target statements; class-specific eligibility only. | Small businesses in ProBiz's targeted industries; source describes businesses up to $5 million revenue for the miscellaneous E&O product. 10Company-reported. professional errors omissions 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’s U.S. Professional First overview identifies Lawyers Professional Liability and Miscellaneous Professional Liability alongside Technology E&O and Media Liability. 6,5Company-reported. Portfolio catalogue statement; the specific legal/professional class and form must be selected rather than treating the offerings as one policy. For architects, engineers and consultants, BHSI describes a professional-liability form that also addresses pollution, media, technology and cyber/network-security exposures. 7Company-reported. This is a specialized design-industry combined form, not generic E&O wording or proof that all risks receive each component. | The cited product page describes miscellaneous E&O for covered claims arising from professional services, with the page describing separate E&O and management-liability products. Marketing description only; actual coverage, exclusions, conditions, limits, and availability depend on the issued policy and jurisdiction. 10Company-reported. professional errors omissions 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. | For its miscellaneous E&O product, Markel states coverage up to $2 million; this is a product-page maximum, not a promise that every applicant or quote receives that amount. 10Company-reported. Markel ProBiz miscellaneous E&O marketing page; class, underwriting, policy terms, and actual quoted limit control. |
| Risk Services | The Professional First overview describes its in-house claims handling group as experienced in complex, high-value claims and integrated with underwriting. 6Company-reported. Company-reported portfolio-level claim-service description, not independently measured claims performance. | 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. 10Company-reported. professional errors omissions 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. |
Related Pages for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance
Professional Liability (E&O) Pages for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance and Markel Insurance
Other Coverage Lines Compared for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance
Other Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance Provider Comparisons
Sources for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs Markel Insurance
Sources About 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 Professional Liability. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; U.S. Professional Liability landing page links Professional Liability / Network Security & Privacy, stand-alone Network Security & Privacy, and Architects, Engineers and Consultants PL, lines 6–15; footer copyright © 2026. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Professional First Professional Liability Overview. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; PDF pp.1–2: claims group and reporting; primary blended E&O/Cyber and stand-alone Cyber forms; line capacity statement; named Lawyers PL, Technology E&O, Miscellaneous PL, Media Liability, Network Security & Privacy; named technology-services target types and selection categories; dated 2026-06-03-A. Group capacity not a line policy limit. Source version: 2026-06-03-A. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Professional First Architects, Engineers and Consultants Professional Liability. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance; Product Highlights: professional/pollution liability; media, technology and cyber/network security/privacy liability; direct breach/extortion expenses; risk services; primary/excess and project-specific product availability; target professions, lines 6–29. Its combined-form technology feature is not itself a standalone Tech E&O statement. Accessed 2026-09-28.
Sources About 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.
- ProBiz | Professional Liability Coverage. Markel; Miscellaneous E&O; types of covered professional-service errors; ProBiz target classes and process. Accessed 2026-09-30.
Sources for the Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance Guide
- FAQ: Professional liability insurance. Texas Department of Insurance; What’s professional liability coverage?; What types of damages…; What’s general liability insurance?; Do I need professional liability… if I have general liability…?; Is professional liability insurance required?; Can a client require…?; What’s the difference between occurrence policies and claims-made policies. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Professional liability insurance. Insurance Information Institute; Opening paragraphs (professional services/advice and E&O name); Claims not covered by general liability; What types of businesses need professional liability insurance?; What’s covered… and what’s not (claims-made versus occurrence, defense and judgments, non-financial/intentional limits, BOP/in-home exclusion). Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Get business insurance. U.S. Small Business Administration; Six common types of business insurance table. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Professional Liability – US Direct Errors and Omissions Insurance. Hiscox Inc. specimen; About this Policy / Coverage for Claims Made Against You; I.A Insuring Agreement; I.B Defense; I.C Settlement; II.A Notice of Claims; II.C Optional Extended Reporting Period; III.A, III.K, III.M, III.R, III.S Exclusions; IV.A–B Limits and Deductible; VI.O Professional Services; VI.U Wrongful Act. Accessed 2026-09-16.
