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 StartupInsurance.ai?
StartupInsurance.ai fits startups, including hardware, robotics and AI companies, that must meet a customer-contract or investor insurance requirement and want a free policy review it says takes 48 hours. Look elsewhere if you need a named AI-failure insurer or a documented claims advocate before you buy. 7,8
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. 11,12,13
Key Differences in D&O Insurance
Term-sheet timing and policy review
StartupInsurance.ai frames D&O around venture-backed founders whose investor term sheet requires board coverage and offers a free review for AI exclusions and contract gaps within 48 hours. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance names large commercial and financial firms as target accounts. A startup approaching a financing close can compare StartupInsurance.ai’s focused intake and policy check with BHSI’s stated account profile and ask how quickly each can bind. 8 8 5
Government inquiries and AI exclusions
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance describes coverage for government investigations, including informal inquiries without sublimits, and shareholder derivative-action costs. StartupInsurance.ai says one major carrier added a blanket AI exclusion to D&O and offers to review policies for that exclusion. A founder in an AI-related business should ask how each quote treats both regulatory scrutiny and AI-related claims, rather than relying on a general D&O description. 5 5 8
What to Confirm in D&O Insurance Quotes
- Ask StartupInsurance.ai which carrier form its review covers and whether the AI exclusion applies to your operations; ask BHSI how its investigation coverage applies to AI-related inquiries. 8 5
- If D&O is a closing condition, confirm the application timeline and bind date with both providers and check whether prior decisions are excluded. 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 reviewsStartupInsurance.ai
Review Score
No reviews found
StartupInsurance.ai has no public customer reviews or ratings that we found, so there is no Review Score. That isn't a bad sign, just not enough to judge.[8][1][6]
Read StartupInsurance.ai reviewsOffering Details
Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs StartupInsurance.ai: D&O Insurance: documented features by provider
| Criteria | Executive First D&O Liability Insurance | StartupInsurance.ai Directors & Officers (D&O) Insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Role in This Line | Confirm in your quote. | StartupInsurance.ai lists directors and officers coverage among the lines its startup program places, and its homepage cites an investor's term-sheet request for D&O as a typical reason a founder comes to it. ContractorNerd Insurance Services, LLC arranges the placement as agent/broker of record rather than underwriting it. 8,10Company-reported. Homepage coverage list and "the problem" narrative, plus ContractorNerd's terms and conditions on its producer role; does not describe a specific D&O policy's terms. |
| Issuing Insurer | Confirm in your quote. | The homepage's carrier panel names insurers with D&O capacity, such as Chubb (shown as A++ Admitted) and Coalition (shown as A- Surplus), but does not state that either one specifically underwrites D&O placements; the issuing insurer varies by placement. 8Not publicly disclosed. Homepage carrier panel and ratings card; the panel is program-wide, not broken out by coverage line. |
| 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. | StartupInsurance.ai frames D&O as coverage founders typically need once an investor's term sheet requires it, positioning the line for venture-backed startups with a board rather than pre-revenue companies with no outside investors. 8Company-reported. Homepage narrative example; not a stated underwriting eligibility rule (e.g., minimum funding stage or headcount). |
| 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. | StartupInsurance.ai says one major carrier added a blanket AI exclusion to D&O (along with E&O and fiduciary forms), typically arriving at renewal inside an endorsement, and that it reviews policies for this exclusion as part of its free check. 8Company-reported. Homepage "wording that still says yes" section; names the exclusion trend industrywide but not the carrier, and does not state whether any StartupInsurance.ai-placed D&O policy carries this specific endorsement. |
| 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. | StartupInsurance.ai's free policy check reviews an existing program for AI exclusions and contract gaps within 48 hours, and the homepage specifically calls out D&O as one of the forms affected by the AI-exclusion trend it checks for. 8Company-reported. Homepage service description; a marketing offer describing what the review covers, not a report on any specific customer's D&O policy. |
| How to Apply | Confirm in your quote. | Directors & Officers (D&O) is the first coverage box on StartupInsurance.ai's online quote-intake screen, described there as coverage that "protects your board and executives from lawsuits." 9Company-reported. Initial coverage-selection screen of the quote application; does not show the underwriting questions that follow for this line. |
Full Comparison
More Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance vs StartupInsurance.ai Comparisons
Other D&O 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.
- 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.
- 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.
StartupInsurance.ai
- Company | Startup Insurance. StartupInsurance.ai; The story; founders; The free policy check; legal footer. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- Startup Insurance | Coverage that clears the review. StartupInsurance.ai; The problem (“An investor's term sheet asked for D&O”); Wording that still says yes (“One major carrier added a blanket AI exclusion to D&O, E&O and fiduciary”); Coverage: What we place; The free policy check. Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Apply for Startup Insurance | StartupInsurance.ai. StartupInsurance.ai; Coverage-selection screen: Directors & Officers (D&O) — “Protects your board and executives from lawsuits”. Accessed 2026-09-23.
- Terms and Conditions. ContractorNerd; Section 2, Insurance Services: “ContractorNerd is an insurance agency/insurance producer... not an insurance company, does not underwrite insurance”; Section 2.A, Broker/Agent of Record. Accessed 2026-09-23.
D&O Insurance Guide
- Glossary of Business Insurance Terms. The Hartford; Directors and Officers Liability Insurance; Errors and Omissions Insurance; Employment Practices Liability Insurance. Accessed 2026-09-16.
- 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.
- 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.
