What Is Lockton?

You work with Lockton as a broker for risk, benefits and retirement programs; it arranges and services policies but is not the risk-bearing insurer. ^1,13,20Company-reportedCompany-reported US brand and Terms of Business. The contracting Lockton company can differ by client. Private-ownership and independence claims are marketing statements, not a regulatory finding.

Technology, hardware, software, internet, medical-device, semiconductor and telecom organizations can ask Lockton about brokerage; public pages give no company-size, funding or revenue minimum. ^1,2,10Company-reportedUS technology, homepage and private-equity service pages. Presence of a technology practice is not an eligibility guarantee for a bootstrapped or early-stage startup.

For a Bay Area company, that can mean a conversation about cyber and directors and officers (D&O) coverage, a casualty and property program as you add offices or inventory, or employee benefits through Lockton People Solutions. Those labels are brokerage offerings; the insurer, form and price show up in a proposal. ^2 5 8

• +Pro: A technology practice, not only a generic commercial desk. The US technology page names hardware, software, internet, semiconductors, medical equipment and telecommunications clients, and it treats cyber liability and D&O as core topics alongside contract review and international program design. That gives a technology founder a specialist team to question, rather than inferring tech capability from a logo. ²
• +Pro: Coverage catalogue spans risk and people solutions. Dedicated US pages list casualty lines, property, workers’ compensation, fiduciary liability and employee benefits, with cyber and D&O on their own product pages. Private-equity materials also list errors and omissions (E&O), crime, employment practices liability, surety, key-person and transaction insurance, including representations and warranties, plus portfolio-company programs. ^5 6 9 10
• +Pro: Compensation types are disclosed even when amounts are not. Terms of Business explain insurer commissions, possible client fees, contingent and supplemental commissions, and other income sources, and they tell you to ask for account-specific figures. That is a concrete agenda for a first meeting. ¹³
• +Pro: Claims work is described as advocacy beside the broking team. D&O, fiduciary and technology pages describe insurance and claims counsel integrated with brokers. Separate loss-prevention pages describe investigations, mapping facts to policies and discussions with insurer counsel. That is a service description to test in a quote, not evidence of how claims are decided. ^4 11

• –Con: You cannot bind coverage from the public website. Contact is an inquiry form or an email to a practice mailbox. Site terms say the content is general information, not broking advice. Early-stage teams used to instant online quotes will need a human process and should not treat the form as a bind request. ^12 14
• –Con: Named insurers are not published. Terms say Lockton need not use any particular insurer and generally cannot bind one. Surplus-lines markets may appear when admitted terms are not available. You cannot compare financial strength or form quality from the marketing site alone. ¹³
• –Con: California product access is not settled by office listings. San Francisco, Los Angeles and Irvine offices exist, and Lockton certificates print a California DBA and license number, but current producer-license status remains independently unverified. An office in California is not eligibility for a California policy. ^17 21 22
• –Con: Scale and independence claims are company-reported. Private ownership and “world’s largest independent brokerage” language appear throughout. They do not tell you whether Lockton will take a small account, what it will charge, or how a local producer is staffed. ^1 20

You can start with a Lockton team inquiry or email its cyber and technology group; reviewed pages do not offer a self-service bind flow or guaranteed quote turnaround. ^12,1,15,3,14Company-reportedUS contact, privacy, technology and cyber-technology pages. Form submission was not completed. Website terms state site content is general information, not broking advice.

Confirm the legal producer on your California broker agreement: Lockton’s terms name Lockton Companies, LLC and affiliates, its site operator is Lockton, Inc., and certificates use Lockton Insurance Brokers, LLC as a California DBA. ^13,14,21Company-reportedCompany legal disclosures and company-issued certificates. Missouri charter number 00498854 appears in website terms as a company statement. Current secretary-of-state and producer-license status were not independently verified.

Verify Lockton’s current California producer authority before appointing it: certificates list license 0F15767 for Lockton Companies, LLC dba Lockton Insurance Brokers, LLC, but status, classes and expiration were not independently checked. ^21,22Not found in reviewed sourcesCompany-issued certificate header versus CDI lookup homepage only. Not a finding that the license is inactive or that California product placement is unavailable.

Once engaged, Terms of Business say Lockton markets programs to insurers, may use other intermediaries (including affiliates), and may place surplus-lines coverage when it cannot obtain requested terms in the admitted market. Proposals, coverage summaries and certificates are described as convenience documents that do not replace the policy. ¹³

Technology and private-equity buyers can ask about cyber, D&O, contract review and international programs; Lockton also lists casualty, property, fiduciary, benefits, E&O, crime, EPL, surety, key-person and transaction products. Actual forms, limits and eligibility require a quote. ^{2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}Company-reportedDirect US product and industry pages accessed 16 September 2026. Technology errors and omissions is discussed in educational Lockton articles but was not added from those articles alone. Catalogue entries from the private-equity page are marketed in that industry context.

A Lockton office in California does not prove your policy is available there; the company lists US and California offices, while its terms also contemplate surplus-lines placements. ^{16,17,18,19,13}Company-reportedOffice directories and US site. No published state-by-state eligibility matrix was found. California office presence is not treated as California coverage eligibility.

Ask which insurer will issue your policy because Lockton does not promise a particular carrier or acceptable terms; its pages mention 100+ workers’ compensation markets without naming them and do not identify insurers for your policy. ^13,3,7Not publicly disclosedUS Terms of Business, cyber-technology, and workers’ compensation marketing. Not a finding that Lockton lacks carrier access.

Educational articles on technology E&O explain how those policies typically work. Those explanations do not establish the technology E&O product or wording available for your company. Ask whether professional or technology E&O is on the proposed program if your contracts require it. ^2 10

Lockton describes dedicated account teams, risk control and renewal service, including a round-the-clock technology service model; confirm actual service commitments and portal features because public pages provide no standard service agreement. ^5,2,13,6,1Company-reportedCompany service descriptions and default Terms of Business; a signed services agreement can differ. Portal capabilities remain undocumented in this review.

Request all commissions and fees for your account: Lockton’s terms allow insurer commissions, client fees, contingent/supplemental compensation, insurer service fees, affiliate reinsurance income and finance interest, but publish no standard rates. ¹³Company-reportedCompensation Disclosure section of US Terms of Business. Amounts for a given account are not disclosed on the public site.

Lockton says its integrated claims team helps investigate, map facts to coverage and negotiate with insurers, but Lockton does not pay claims; service descriptions do not establish claim outcomes or quality. ^{2,4,9,11,7,13}Company-reportedCompany-reported advocacy and consulting. Lockton is not identified as the claims-paying insurer.

• –The legal producer on the engagement letter, broker-of-record form and any California surplus-lines paperwork, and a current license verification for that entity and the individual producer.
• –Whether Lockton will accept the size and stage of your company, including bootstrapped or early-venture accounts, which the public technology page does not define.
• –The issuing insurer (or insurers) for each line, admitted versus surplus-lines status in California or other operating states, and specimen or proposed forms, limits, retentions and exclusions.
• –How cyber, D&O, E&O and general liability interact if customers require professional-services coverage.
• –Compensation: commission, client fee, contingent or supplemental amounts, affiliate placements, and whether commissions remain earned if you cancel midterm.
• –Service: named team, claims-advocacy scope, certificate turnaround, and whether a portal will be used.
• –Renewal and replacement of any existing broker, including gaps Lockton says it will not take responsibility for if another broker placed prior coverage. ¹³