Berkley Service Professionals insurance agent E&O review for insurance agents: E&O cost, coverage and policy terms
Insurance agents E&O pays your defense and any settlement when a client says your work as an agent or broker cost them. Berkley Service Professionals, part of the Berkley insurance group, runs a program written by Great Divide and Nautilus.
It fits established insurance firms with at least $2 million in revenue, from retail agencies to MGAs and wholesalers. Berkley publishes a minimum premium, and each firm is quoted from there.
- Best for
- Retail and wholesale agencies, MGAs and other insurance firms with at least $2 million in revenue
- Price
- Minimum premium $10,000 a year for primary coverage, $2,500 for excess
- Insurer
- Great Divide or Nautilus, both W. R. Berkley companies rated A+ (Superior)
- Lines covered
- P&C, life, health and annuity work, plus MGA, TPA, premium finance and claims work
- Policy form
- Claims-made and reported, so a claim must be both made and reported during the policy
- Admitted
- Berkley offers an admitted application and a surplus lines one. On the admitted track, Great Divide covers every state but Arizona and Nautilus covers Arizona
Our take
Berkley suits a mid-size or large insurance firm, including MGAs, wholesalers and program administrators. It is not for new or small agents, since firms need at least $2 million in revenue and the minimum premium is $10,000 a year.
You can buy it as your main policy or as excess over another one. Limits go up to $5 million either way.
Ask about defense costs on the quote. First-dollar defense and extra defense limits are options you add.
Pros
- Published minimum premiums for primary and excess coverage
- Insurers rated A+ (Superior) by AM Best
- Covers MGAs, wholesalers, TPAs and reinsurance intermediaries
- No carrier insolvency exclusion
- First-dollar defense and extra defense limits as options
Cons
- Firms need at least $2 million in revenue
- Sold only through select agents and brokers
- If you refuse a recommended settlement, you can pay up to 20% of the cost above it
- Defense terms are set in the quote
Who can buy
- Licenses
- The application lists the firm's state licenses and its licensed staff
- Lines
- Retail, wholesale, MGA, MGU, program administrator, reinsurance intermediary and PEO work
- Agency size or revenue
- At least $2 million in revenue, with no maximum. The firm must be based in the US
- Prior claims
- You disclose claims and suits from the past five years and anything that could become a claim
- Membership required
- No
Applications come through a select agent or broker, and a licensed producer signs them.
What it costs
| Program | Limit | Deductible | Minimum premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary E&OYour main agency E&O policyMost firms start here | Up to $5M | From $5,000 | $10,000 |
| Excess E&OSits on top of another E&O policy | Up to $5M, from a $1M attachment | Set by the underlying policy | $2,500 |
Minimum premiums from Berkley's current program overview, checked October 2026. They are floors, not quotes. Underwriting sets your premium.
Insurer and admitted status
- Issuing insurer
- Great Divide Insurance Company in every state but Arizona. Nautilus Insurance Company in Arizona
- AM Best rating
- A+ (Superior) for both
- Admitted
- Great Divide is admitted outside Arizona. Nautilus is admitted in Arizona. If you're placed on a surplus lines policy instead, state guaranty funds won't back it
- Administrator
- Berkley Service Professionals, part of W. R. Berkley. Claims and risk analysis stay in house
AM Best ratings as of June 2026.
Policy form, prior acts and tail
- Policy form
- Claims-made and reported
- Retroactive date
- You request one on the application, the earliest date of past work the policy will cover
- Tail options
- Multi-year tails, meaning extra years to report claims after the policy ends, plus stand-alone tails you can buy
Claims-made means the policy in force when the claim is made pays it. List your current retroactive date on the application so prior work stays covered.
Limits, deductibles and defense
| Limit per claim | Aggregate | Deductible |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $5 million | Up to $5 million | From $5,000, with an aggregate deductible option |
- Defense costs
- First-dollar defense and extra defense limits are options you can add
- Defense counsel
- You can choose counsel with Berkley's consent, as an option
- Mediation credit
- Your deductible drops when a claim settles in mediation
Consent to settle and exclusions
- Consent to settle
- Berkley advertises a settlement clause of up to 80/20. If you turn down a settlement the insurer recommends, you pay up to 20% of the costs above that amount
Excluded
- Claims and circumstances you already knew about when you applied. Report those to your current insurer
Who the policy covers
- The agency
- The firm, plus related firms you add as applicants
- Independent contractors
- The application asks whether to cover all contractors, subagents, subproducers and solicitors
- Newly acquired firms
- Covered automatically if the new firm is under 20% of your size. Berkley doesn't publish how it measures size, so ask
Included and optional coverage
| Coverage | Included or optional | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier insolvency | No insolvency exclusion | Within the policy limit |
| Contingent bodily injury and property damage | Included | Within the policy limit |
| Retired employees who consult | Included | Within the policy limit |
| First-dollar defense | Optional | Set in the quote |
| Extra defense limits | Optional | Set in the quote |
| Aggregate deductible (one yearly cap on what you pay across claims) | Optional | Set in the quote |
How to apply
Work with a broker
Berkley takes submissions only from select agents and brokers.
Pick the application
Use the admitted or surplus lines application for your state.
Add supplements
Securities work, MGA or TPA work and any past claims each need a supplement, with client contracts where asked.
Submit
Your broker emails it to mplsubmissions@berkleysp.com.
Review the quote and bind
Tell Berkley in writing if anything changes before the policy is issued.
Claims and risk management
- How to report
- Email the New Matter Report Form and documents to bamclaims@berkleyalliance.com, or fax it
- When to report
- As the policy requires, including circumstances that could become claims
- Claims handled by
- Berkley's in-house claims team
Berkley publishes E&O risk guides for agencies on best practices and documentation.
Berkley Service Professionals insurance agent E&O alternatives
- Axis Insurance ServicesQuote onlyBroker placing E&O with limits up to $100 million
- MarkelQuote onlySpecialty insurer covering MGAs and wholesalers
- RockwoodQuote onlyLloyd's program for P&C agencies, with a newly licensed track
- Big I Professional LiabilityQuote onlySwiss Re program with defense outside the limit
- PIA Agency InsuranceQuote onlyAssociation broker that shops several insurers
See every option in E&O insurance for insurance agents.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Berkley agents E&O cost?
The minimum premium is $10,000 a year for primary coverage and $2,500 for excess. Your quote depends on underwriting.
Who issues the policy?
Great Divide Insurance Company outside Arizona and Nautilus Insurance Company in Arizona. AM Best rates both A+ (Superior).
Can a small agency buy it?
Only with at least $2 million in revenue. Smaller agencies should look at programs built for them.
Will I keep prior acts if I switch?
You request a retroactive date on the application. Ask for the one on your current policy.
How we researched this review. We based this review on the pricing, terms and product pages published by Berkley Service Professionals insurance agent E&O, reviewed in October 2026, together with our team's experience working with insurance agents and agency owners since 2008.
Corrections
Vendors change their pricing all the time and they don't email us when they do. So if you see a price on here that's gone up, a plan Berkley Service Professionals insurance agent E&O quit selling or a contract term that reads different now, let us know and send the link to the page where Berkley Service Professionals insurance agent E&O has it. Somebody here pulls up that page and checks it before we change anything on ours.