Coalition vs Cowbell: How Do They Compare for Cyber Insurance?

Coalition offers U.S. surplus lines excess cyber coverage above an underlying policy. Its public pages do not publish maximum primary limits or retentions. ^6,1Company-reported. Excess product help article; limit and retention amounts appear only on quotes.

Cowbell states Prime 100 Pro adds endorsements with limits up to $3M, Prime One offers limits up to $10M for select risks, and Prime Plus is an excess layer offering up to $5M above a primary cyber policy; base Prime 100 and Prime 250 limit figures are not published in the reviewed PDFs. ^8,10,11Company-reported. Product overview PDFs; actual issued limits depend on underwriting.

Coalition states that its admitted and surplus lines cyber policies are offered in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. ⁴Company-reported. Availability help article; eligibility for a particular business depends on underwriting.

Cowbell markets Prime 100 (admitted) to SMEs with up to $100M in revenue, Prime 100 Pro (admitted, available in 47 states) to a similar SME band with broader endorsements, Prime 250 (non-admitted) to businesses up to $1B in revenue, and Prime One (non-admitted) to organizations with more advanced digital exposure, typically $250M+ in annual revenue. ^7,8,9,10Company-reported. Risk Appetite sections of each PDF.

You buy Coalition cyber through an appointed insurance broker. Underwriting considers industry, finances, operations and security posture. ⁵Company-reported. Qualification help article; restates the verified provider fact broker-application.

Cowbell says agents can quote, bind and issue Prime 100 policies in less than five minutes, and that Prime 100 Pro requires only six underwriting questions for accounts under $50M in revenue; Prime products are distributed through appointed agents rather than direct to consumers. ^7,8Company-reported. Prime 100 and Prime 100 Pro overview PDFs; speed figures are company-reported, not independently timed.

Coalition says breach-response expenses have a separate limit, so response costs do not use up the limit for other coverages. ¹Company-reported. Product-page description; the issued policy and declarations control.

Coalition lists pay-on-behalf cyber extortion coverage, funds transfer fraud and business interruption losses among its cyber coverages. ¹Company-reported. Product-page coverage highlights, subject to exclusions and the policy as issued.

Base Prime 100 coverages include security breach liability, social engineering, hardware replacement, business income and extra expense, extortion threats, computer and funds transfer fraud, and restoration of electronic data; Prime One adds affirmative AI-incident and quantum-computing-incident coverage for more advanced digital exposures. ^7,10Company-reported. Prime 100 Coverages and Prime One 'Emerging risk coverage' sections; illustrative, subject to the issued policy's terms.

Coalition designs and distributes its own cyber policy and pairs it with security monitoring and incident-response services. ¹Company-reported. U.S. Active Cyber Insurance for small and midsize businesses, as described on the product page.

Cowbell operates as an insurance agency that markets its own named 'Prime' cyber product line, rather than distributing another carrier's off-the-shelf policy under its own brand. ^7,9,10Company-reported. Product overview PDFs for Prime 100, Prime 100 Pro, Prime 250, Prime One and Prime Plus.

Admitted cyber policies are issued by Coalition Insurance Company. Non-admitted (surplus lines) policies are placed with unaffiliated insurers, so the carrier depends on the policy route. ³Company-reported. U.S. disclaimers for admitted and non-admitted cyber; restates the verified provider fact insurer-route.

Cowbell says Prime 100 and Prime 100 Pro paper is provided by Palomar Specialty Insurance Company (AM Best A rating), Prime 250 by Palomar Specialty Insurance Company and Chaucer Insurance Company, and Prime One by Chaucer Specialty Insurance Company; the insurer therefore varies by which Prime product is placed. ^7,9,10Company-reported. Footer/underwriting statements in each product PDF.

Policyholders get Coalition Control at no additional cost, including attack-surface monitoring, vendor risk monitoring, zero-day alerts and Login Security for Microsoft or Google accounts. ²Company-reported. Coalition Control policyholder features page.

Cowbell says every Prime policy includes Cowbell Factors risk ratings, Cowbell Resiliency Services, Cowbell Insights guidance, Cowbell Connectors integrations with cloud/security providers, and complimentary Wizer cybersecurity-awareness training with unlimited seats in the first policy year. ^7,9Company-reported. 'The Cowbell Advantage' section, repeated across the reviewed product PDFs.

Coalition describes an in-house cyber claims team and an affiliated incident response firm, Coalition Incident Response, and says it often recovers stolen funds after transfer fraud. ¹Company-reported. Product page claims and incident-response sections; outcome statistics are company-reported and not independently verified.

Cowbell says its in-house cyber claims team has over 80 years of combined claims-handling experience and provides 24/7 in-house claims support from initial triage through resolution. ^10,7Company-reported. Prime One 'When an incident occurs' section and 'Expert Claims Support' feature repeated across the product PDFs.