Heffernan Insurance Brokers vs Pie Insurance

Heffernan describes itself as an insurance broker and risk manager that shops markets, presents options, and places coverage with insurance carriers. It is not identified in the reviewed pages as the insurer that issues or pays claims on a buyer’s policy. Privacy language says it may share underwriting information with non-affiliated parties to solicit quotations from insurance carriers. ^6,9,5,1

Public pages and a 26 August 2026 company release use the name Heffernan Insurance Brokers and display California license number 0564249. They identify F. Michael Heffernan as President and CEO. The reviewed official pages do not print a longer corporate legal name such as an “Inc.” suffix. Confirm the contracting producer name on the engagement agreement and policy. ^1,24,2

Heffernan’s current site says it has been independent and employee-owned since 1988. A 2019 SkyKnight Capital announcement described a minority investment that recapitalized Heffernan’s ESOP while management said the firm would retain a culture of employee ownership. Current ownership percentages were not disclosed in the 2026 pages reviewed. ^1,2,25

Heffernan Network Insurance Brokers is described as a wholly owned subsidiary, formerly OLI Insurance Services, that acquires or partners with independent agencies. Costero Brokers Ltd. appears as Heffernan’s London location listing. Heffernan Benefit Advisors is the name used on the employee-benefits page. These related names do not by themselves identify the producer or insurer on a California technology policy. ^21,22,11,3

Pie Insurance is a small-business commercial insurance group whose producer, Pie Insurance Services, sells and administers policies. Its affiliated carriers write workers’ compensation, while selected other products are offered through outside carrier partners. ^{28,31,29,33,34,35,36}

Pie Group Holdings, Inc. owns the public website and is the regulator-listed parent of Pie Casualty Insurance Company. AM Best identifies the rated carrier group as Pie Insurance Group. ^30,50,48

Pie identifies Pie Insurance Services, Inc. as the licensed producer that sells and administers policies; its legal page publishes state licenses but is not a substitute for a current regulator lookup in the buyer’s state. ^31,51

The business-insurance page lists general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, and global/foreign exposures among basic coverages it can provide. Corporate and executive protection listed there includes employment-practices liability, directors and officers liability, fiduciary responsibility, cyber liability, and kidnap and ransom. The small-business page also lists errors and omissions and a business owner’s policy among coverages it can provide. ^6,8

Specialty practices list additional products: builders risk for construction projects; marine cargo, logistics E&O, and surety bonds in the cargo program; trucking, final-mile delivery, motor truck cargo, and umbrella or excess in transportation; medical malpractice in healthcare; crime, fidelity/employee-dishonesty bonds, and hired/non-owned auto in the home-care program; and representations-and-warranties insurance in the private-equity and M&A practice. Employee benefits are offered separately through Heffernan Benefit Advisors, including group medical, dental, vision, life, and disability examples. ^{15,16,17,18,19,20,11}

For buyers trying to control total cost of risk, Heffernan describes loss-sensitive and alternative arrangements including self-insurance, partial self-insurance, large deductibles, and captives. The technology page separately discusses self-insurance strategies for later-stage companies. These are options to evaluate in a proposal, not a standard policy form. ^6,7,18

Current direct offering pages support workers’ compensation, business owner’s policy, cyber, general liability and professional liability/E&O. The non-workers’ compensation pages describe typical protection; the issued policy and endorsements determine actual coverage. ^{29,33,34,36,35,30}

Pie says it stopped accepting commercial-auto submissions on December 1, 2025 and will issue no new or renewal commercial-auto policies on or after January 1, 2026. Existing policyholders retain coverage through their policy term and can still use Pie’s claim channels. ^40,46

Pie’s terms say website coverage descriptions are not part of an insurance contract and do not change a policy or endorsement; eligibility and product availability can vary by geography and applicant. ³⁰

The public commercial path starts with a Contact Us inquiry. The empty form inspected on 16 September 2026 asks for first and last name, email, optional phone, insurance needed, and a description of operations, plus a required choice among Need A Quote, Other, or Would like to speak with someone. Submitting the form does not display a premium or bind coverage. ¹²

Heffernan tells technology buyers to work with a specialized broker who assesses the business and gathers quotes from insurers. Its cyber team says it determines exposure, shops the market, presents options, and guides coverage selection. Quick Insure is a separate path that markets faster quotes for selected personal and short-term business products. The reviewed pages do not promise a universal quote or binding turnaround for a growth-stage technology program. ^7,9,13,12

A small business can start a workers’ compensation quote on Pie’s website or work through an insurance agent; appointed agencies use a separate partner portal. ^28,27,29

The live direct quote starts with the business ZIP code. Pie’s workers’ compensation page says applicants also need their name, business name, annual payroll and class-code information. ^32,29

Pie advertises an online workers’ compensation quote in about three minutes, while expressly stating that individual quote times vary. This is a company claim and does not establish how long underwriting or binding will take for a particular risk. ^29,27

Heffernan describes shopping multiple insurers rather than issuing policies itself. Named partners on reviewed pages include Thimble Insurance Services for short-term on-demand general liability and a third-party Propeller portal for some surety bonds. Transportation, healthcare, and marine-cargo pages refer to top, major, or exclusive carriers without naming them. Ask for the issuing insurer, admitted or surplus-lines status, and proposed forms on any quote. ^{9,17,18,16,14,1}

Pie says workers’ compensation is underwritten by The Pie Insurance Company (NAIC 21857) and affiliates. AM Best says Pie began writing all of that business through The Pie Insurance Company and Pie Casualty Insurance Company (NAIC 10997) on January 1, 2024. ^31,48,49,50

AM Best affirmed Pie Casualty Insurance Company’s pooled A- (Excellent) financial strength rating with a Stable outlook, effective April 24, 2026. A rating is an opinion of insurer financial strength, not a guarantee that a claim is covered or paid. ⁴⁸

Pie says business owner’s, general liability and professional liability policies are underwritten by unaffiliated third-party insurers, and its cyber page refers to carrier partners. The reviewed public pages do not name the currently participating insurers for these products. ^{31,33,34,35,36}

A public fee schedule, commission percentage, or premium range for Heffernan’s ordinary business-insurance or technology brokerage was not found on the reviewed homepage, business, technology, contact, privacy, or Quick Insure pages. Request an account-specific disclosure of brokerage fees, insurer commissions, contingent or supplemental compensation, and any separately billed services. Absence of a published schedule does not mean the work is unpaid. ^{1,6,7,12,5,13}

Published workers’ compensation options include annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly schedules, plus pay-as-you-go. The monthly schedule requires 16.6% upfront followed by ten monthly payments; pay-as-you-go uses reported payroll and no initial deposit. ^43,44

Pie publishes a 3% credit-card convenience fee for new, single-state workers’ compensation policies, except in Florida, Nebraska, Maryland and Rhode Island. Its page does not describe this fee for multi-state or renewal policies. ⁴³

Pie says each specific or blanket waiver-of-subrogation request carries a charge set by state rules and disclosed individually; the public FAQ does not give a dollar schedule. ⁴²

Pie says partner agents receive commissions on new and renewal workers’ compensation policies, and its legal footer says compensation rates can vary among insurers. The reviewed current pages do not publish the standard rate or the amount attached to a buyer’s policy. ^47,31