Coverdash vs USI Insurance Services: How Do They Compare for D&O Insurance?

Coverdash offers a digital application for standalone D&O, while USI Insurance Services brokers coverage for small and midsize businesses and directs them to a local advisor for a quote.

Coverdash sells standalone D&O through a fully online quote-to-purchase process. USI places D&O through its ExecuSafe program for small and mid-sized businesses and through a Technology practice for software, hardware and communications companies from seed to IPO. 2,1,4,5

What Are the Key Differences Between Coverdash and USI Insurance Services D&O Insurance?

Online Checkout vs an Email Inbox and a Practice Team

At Coverdash you quote and buy D&O online, standalone or in a management-liability bundle. 1 2 USI starts with people: it identifies your exposures, reviews your existing management-liability policies and places cover. ExecuSafe inquiries go to a Select Business inbox, and Technology and Business Services inquiries go to a separate inbox or a local office. 4 6 Choose Coverdash if you just raised and want D&O in place without a meeting; choose USI if you are a growing software, hardware or communications company that wants its limit benchmarked and reviewed through to IPO. 1 5

Benchmarking Can Cut Your Premium

USI's Technology practice cites a case where benchmarking changed a software company's D&O limit and saved more than $100,000 a year. 5 Coverdash describes no benchmarking; you choose your cover yourself online. 1

What Claims They Describe

Coverdash describes protection against leadership-decision harm, investor suits and regulatory investigations, and says funding often depends on having D&O. 1 USI lists breach of contract, breach of duty, misrepresentation, unfair competition, trade-secret, securities and creditor lawsuits as common claims, and cites a 2016 Chubb survey on private-company claim costs. 4

What Should You Confirm in Coverdash and USI Insurance Services D&O Insurance Quotes?

  • Ask both which insurer would issue the policy; neither names one. 1 4
  • Ask Coverdash whether you are quoting standalone D&O or the management-liability bundle. 1
  • Ask USI whether you're being routed to ExecuSafe or the Technology practice, and which ExecuSafe endorsements are on the form. 4 5
  • Get dollar limits and retentions from both; neither publishes them. 1 4

Coverdash vs USI Insurance Services D&O Insurance Compared

Coverdash vs USI Insurance Services: D&O Insurance: documented features by provider

CriteriaCoverdash Directors & Officers InsuranceUSI ExecuSafe Directors & Officers Liability Program
Who It’s For

Coverdash says any company with a board, investors or executives making decisions on its behalf needs D&O, and that it is frequently required as a condition of funding. 1Company-reported. Product-page eligibility description; actual acceptance depends on underwriting and the specific funding or governance situation.

USI targets small- and medium-sized businesses for ExecuSafe, saying many either skip D&O coverage or buy insufficient limits because their brokers do not help them identify the exposure. Its Technology practice separately places D&O for software, hardware and communications clients from seed stage through IPO. 4,5Company-reported. ExecuSafe article eligibility framing and Technology practice client description.

How to Apply

Coverdash describes a fully digital quote-to-purchase process for directors and officers coverage, with the option to add other coverages alongside it. 1Company-reported. Product-page company information and cross-sell section.

USI directs small- and medium-sized businesses interested in ExecuSafe to email Select.Business@usi.com; its Technology and Business Services practices separately route inquiries to pcinquiries@usi.com or a local USI office. 4,5,6Company-reported. Contact instructions on the ExecuSafe article and the Technology and Business Services pages.

Coverage Features

Coverdash describes directors and officers coverage as protecting the company's directors, officers and the company itself against claims that a leadership decision caused financial harm, suits from investors or shareholders, and regulatory investigations, and pays defense costs and settlements for covered claims. 1Company-reported. Product-page coverage cards; the issued policy and declarations control actual wording, limits and exclusions.

Coverdash sells this standalone Directors & Officers product separately from its bundled management liability product, which adds optional employment-practices, fiduciary and crime coverage on top of the D&O core. 1Company-reported. Comparison of the directors-and-officers and management-liability product pages; does not establish which structure is cheaper or better suited to a given company.

USI says D&O insurance is meant to protect a company's leadership from personal loss in a lawsuit, since the corporate veil does not shield directors and officers from personal liability for the business's actions and debts. It lists breach of contract, breach of duty, misrepresentation, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, securities lawsuits and creditor lawsuits as common claim types the coverage responds to. 4Company-reported. ExecuSafe article's description of D&O purpose and claim types; actual insuring agreements and exclusions are set by the issued policy.

Role in This Line

Coverdash arranges standalone directors and officers coverage as a broker rather than an insurer, placing coverage with a carrier under its standard brokerage terms. 2,1Company-reported. General brokerage terms applied to the D&O page; not specific to any one carrier or state.

USI is a broker for D&O coverage. It says it helps clients identify D&O exposures, review any existing management liability policies for gaps, and place coverage, including through its own named endorsement package, ExecuSafe. 4Company-reported. ExecuSafe article's "How USI Can Help" section.

About Coverdash and USI Insurance Services and D&O Insurance

Related Pages for Coverdash vs USI Insurance Services D&O Insurance

Updated . Spot, a product of Tools for Enlightenment, publishes this research and works in the commercial insurance market. The comparison applies the same criteria to both providers. Editorial policy. To suggest a correction, contact Spot with the page URL and supporting source.

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