Chubb vs 
Lockton: How Do They Compare for D&O Insurance?
Lockton designs and places D&O programs with coverage options for trustees and employees; Chubb insures D&O directly for smaller private companies, with published shareholder-demand and limits for executives.
Chubb's ForeFront Portfolio 3.0 is a ready-made D&O and entity form for smaller private companies, with an optional extra $500,000 Side A limit. Lockton designs your program across insurers, splitting Side A, B and C, and has a claims team working alongside its brokers. 1,3
What Are the Key Differences Between Chubb and Lockton D&O Insurance?
One Insurer's Form vs a Program Built Across Insurers
A ForeFront quote is Chubb's own policy with fixed wording. 1 Lockton doesn't underwrite; it designs and places your program with insurers it doesn't name on its D&O page, so the wording and insurer depend on who it binds. 3 Choose Chubb if you're a smaller private company that wants a standard, well-defined form; choose Lockton if you need Side A, B and C limits split to fit your board or want a broker's claims team on your side. 1 3
Who Counts as Insured
Lockton says the programs it places can cover trustees, employees, independent contractors, committee members, volunteers, the company, majority-owned subsidiaries, spouses or domestic partners, and estates or heirs, not just directors and officers. 3 Chubb's form covers the parent company, subsidiaries, directors and officers (including foreign equivalents), advisory board members and volunteers worldwide, and automatically covers your people sitting on nonprofit boards. 1 If contractors or family members need cover, you have to ask Lockton for it; with Chubb, check the form.
How Side A Protection Works
Lockton explains Side A as paying individuals when the company can't indemnify them, Side B as reimbursing the company, and Side C as covering the company itself. 3 Chubb adds a concrete option: an extra $500,000 Side A limit reserved for individuals. 1
What Should You Confirm in Chubb and Lockton D&O Insurance Quotes?
- Ask Lockton which insurers are quoting and how the Side A, B and C limits are split. 3
- Confirm the Chubb quote is ForeFront 3.0 and whether the extra $500,000 Side A limit is included. 1
- If Lockton uses ForeFront as one layer, check how Chubb's $500,000 sublimits fit the overall tower. 1
- Ask how each bound form treats AI-related and event-driven claims. 3
Chubb vs Lockton D&O Insurance Compared
Chubb vs Lockton: D&O Insurance: documented features by provider
| Criteria | Chubb ForeFront Portfolio 3.0 Directors & Officers and Entity Liability Insurance | Lockton Directors & Officers (D&O) Insurance Brokerage |
|---|---|---|
| Who It’s For | Chubb aims this D&O product at smaller private companies and offers separate versions for not-for-profit and healthcare organizations in its ForeFront Portfolio. 1,2Company-reported. ForeFront Portfolio 3.0 D&O page opening description; ForeFront Portfolio page coverage list. | Lockton says D&O coverage it places can extend beyond directors and officers to trustees, employees, independent contractors, staff, committee members, volunteers, the corporate entity, majority-owned subsidiaries, spouses/domestic partners, and estates/heirs. 3Company-reported. D&O product page as read 2026-09-23. Describes who can typically be covered under a program Lockton structures, not a guarantee for any specific client. |
| Coverage Features | Chubb lists a broad definition of Insured covering the parent organization, subsidiaries, directors or officers (including foreign equivalents), advisory board members and volunteers worldwide; automatic not-for-profit outside-directorship coverage; a broad definition of Claim including written demands, civil and criminal proceedings, and extradition requests; and civil fines and penalties coverage where insurable, including FCPA civil penalties. 1Company-reported. Coverage Highlights list; subject to the policy as issued. Chubb says the policy uses a streamlined insured-versus-insured exclusion with exceptions (including financial impairment, former executives after one year, and whistleblower and employment claims) and conduct exclusions that require final non-appealable adjudication before they apply. 1Company-reported. Coverage Highlights list, exclusion-related bullets. Chubb says the policy provides private-placement and failed-IPO coverage, a full Side A carve-back to the pollution exclusion, and a guaranteed IPO quotation including coverage for road-show presentations. 1Company-reported. Coverage Highlights list. | Lockton explains a traditional D&O program in three parts it says it can structure: Side A (direct coverage to individual directors/officers when the company can't indemnify them), Side B (reimbursing the company for indemnifying its D&Os), and Side C (entity coverage, generally limited to securities claims for public companies but broader for private and nonprofit organizations). 3Company-reported. D&O product page as read 2026-09-23. General educational description of program structure, not a specimen policy form. |
| Role in This Line | Chubb underwrites D&O and Entity Liability directly through ForeFront Portfolio 3.0, describing this specific version as designed for directors and officers of smaller, privately held companies. 1Company-reported. ForeFront Portfolio 3.0 D&O and Entity Liability product page. | Lockton designs and places D&O programs rather than underwriting them, saying effective coverage requires market intelligence, coverage-design precision and staying ahead of emerging risks like AI-related litigation and event-driven claims. 3Company-reported. D&O product page as read 2026-09-23. |
