Cowbell vs HUB International: How Do They Compare for Management Liability Insurance?

HUB International is a broker practice with attorneys on policy wording; Cowbell is a platform giving appointed Zurich E&S wholesalers API access to Select Plus, aimed at private firms under 250 employees.

Cowbell's Zurich-backed Select Plus covers D&O, employment practices, fiduciary and crime for private companies under 250 employees and $50 million in assets, but only through an appointed wholesaler. HUB's ProEx practice brokers a wider set of executive lines and backs claims with its own attorneys. ^1,^2,³

What Are the Key Differences Between Cowbell and HUB International Management Liability Insurance?

Small-Company Package via Wholesalers vs a Broker Team You Work With Directly

Cowbell's Select Plus is for private companies under 250 employees and $50 million in assets, and only Zurich-appointed wholesalers can quote it through Cowbell's platform, so you can't buy it from Cowbell directly. HUB's ProEx practice works with you through its own account team, places over $2 billion in premium, and lists no size cap. Choose Cowbell if you're a small private company and your broker can reach a Zurich wholesaler; choose HUB if you're larger or want a broker you deal with directly. ¹ ³

Four Modules vs Specialty Lines and Attorney Claims Help

Select Plus combines up to four modules: private company D&O, employment practices with third-party discrimination, fiduciary and crime. HUB also places Side A excess D&O (which protects directors personally when the company can't pay), employed lawyers E&O, kidnap/ransom/extortion and workplace violence, and its attorney-staffed Claims & Legal Risks Group supports you at claim time. Cowbell points instead to Zurich's claims service. ² ¹ ³

What Should You Confirm in Cowbell and HUB International Management Liability Insurance Quotes?

Ask your broker whether it can reach a Zurich-appointed wholesaler for Select Plus, or ask HUB who will run your ProEx placement. ¹ ³
Ask HUB which insurer will issue each line and the limits. Select Plus is written by Zurich on an admitted basis, so state guaranty funds apply. ³ ²
If you need Side A, K&R or workplace-violence cover, go to HUB; Select Plus doesn't list them. ³ ²
Check your headcount and assets against Cowbell's caps. ¹

Cowbell vs HUB International Management Liability Insurance Compared

Cowbell vs HUB International: Management Liability Insurance: documented features by provider

Criteria	Cowbell / Zurich Select Plus Management Liability	HUB ProEx Management Liability Insurance Brokerage
Coverage Features	Zurich's own page names the four Select Plus modules as 'Private Management and Company Liability,' 'Employment Practices and Third-Party Discrimination Liability,' 'Fiduciary Liability,' and 'Crime Insurance' -- broader labels than the plain 'D&O' and 'EPL' shorthand Cowbell's FAQ uses -- and says a buyer can combine up to four of these modules into one policy. ²Company-reported. Zurich page 'Protect your small to midsize business with Zurich's Select Plus Management Liability solutions' section. Cowbell describes management liability as a modular umbrella covering four lines within the Select Plus product: private company D&O, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, and crime, each addressing a different category of management or employee risk. ¹Company-reported. FAQ 'What is the difference between management liability and D&O?'.	HUB's ProEx Executive Liability coverages include directors and officers liability (D&O), side-A-only excess D&O, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, employed lawyers errors and omissions, crime and fidelity coverage, kidnap, ransom and extortion insurance, and workplace violence coverage. ³Company-reported. ProEx page coverage list; the page describes the practice's catalogue, not the insuring agreements or exclusions of any one issued policy. HUB's technology-industry page separately groups crime, D&O, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability and transactional or warranty insurance under "Management Liability" as coverages it arranges for technology clients, largely overlapping with the ProEx Executive Liability list. ⁴Company-reported. Technology-industry page People Protection and Management Liability lists; a marketing grouping, not a single bundled policy.
Role in This Line	Cowbell is the distribution platform, not the insurer: it gives Zurich-appointed E&S wholesalers API access to Zurich's Select Plus management liability product, a modular suite Zurich already sells to larger companies, sized down for small and midsize private businesses. Zurich's own page confirms Select Plus is 'Zurich Insurance, in collaboration with Cowbell,' offered as a 'proprietary form,' with identical FAQ wording to Cowbell's page. ^1,²Company-reported. Cowbell intro paragraph and FAQ; Zurich intro and 'Delivering speed from quoting to policy issuance' section.	HUB brokers management liability coverage through its ProEx Professional & Executive Risk practice, packaging lines such as D&O, employment practices liability and fiduciary liability under an Executive Liability umbrella rather than underwriting any of them itself. ³Company-reported. ProEx page coverage list, read 2026-09-23; the page does not name an issuing insurer for any listed line.
Issuing Insurer	Both Cowbell and Zurich say the product is offered on Zurich admitted paper and backed by 'the reputable Zurich Claims service.' Neither page names the specific underwriting Zurich subsidiary or policy-issuing entity; Zurich's site footer copyright reads 'Zurich American Insurance Company,' but that is a general site-wide notice, not a stated policy-issuer confirmation for Select Plus specifically. ^1,²Company-reported. Management liability page intro; Zurich page intro and footer.	HUB says ProEx places more than $2 billion in premium, which it says improves carrier negotiations, but does not name the insurers that issue management liability policies through the practice. ³Company-reported. ProEx page market-leverage statement; the carrier for a specific placement depends on the quote.
Risk Services	Cowbell says the product is backed by Zurich's claims service, and frames the offering's advantage as faster quoting and issuance through Cowbell's technology platform compared with Zurich's standard process, rather than describing separate risk-control services. ¹Company-reported. Page intro and FAQ 'What makes the Zurich Select Plus offering through Cowbell unique?'.	HUB says ProEx provides an inclusive service model with analytics, litigation support and risk management across client sizes, a "boundaryless" account team of local, national and international specialists, and D&O modeling that incorporates ESG risk analysis alongside white papers, webinars and events on emerging exposures. ³Company-reported. ProEx page service-model and analytics sections.
Claims Support	Cowbell says the most common management liability claims fall under employment practices liability, citing discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment, and retaliation as the most frequent claim types. ¹Company-reported. FAQ 'What is the most common management liability claim?'; describes claim frequency, not Cowbell's own claims-handling process.	HUB describes a Claims & Legal Risks Group of attorneys who specialize in ProEx coverages, handling policy-wording review and claim recovery for management liability claims. ³Company-reported. ProEx page claims and legal support section.