Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance business insurance

Overview

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is the specialty and large-account commercial insurer inside Berkshire Hathaway. It writes property, casualty, executive and professional lines, healthcare liability, transactional liability, surety, marine, programs and employer stop loss, mostly for mid-size and large organizations, and almost entirely through brokers. It is based at 100 Federal Street in Boston, Massachusetts, and has 15 U.S. offices plus branches in Canada, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

BHSI does not have its own NAIC rank on this site. Its premiums roll into the Berkshire Hathaway group, which ranked No. 4 among U.S. business insurers by 2025 commercial premiums. Berkshire's 2025 annual report puts BHSI in the Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group alongside GUARD, biBERK, MedPro, BHHC, USLI, NICO Primary, RSUI and CapSpecialty, and describes it as writing primary and excess policies on both an admitted and non-admitted basis in the U.S. Berkshire listed 1,481 BHSI employees at the end of 2025.

The main U.S. issuing company is Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company, a Nebraska-domiciled insurer (NAIC 22276). BHSI also writes on the paper of other National Indemnity group companies, which is how it offers E&S capacity. In Europe it trades through Berkshire Hathaway European Insurance DAC in Dublin and Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Limited in London. Peter J. Eastwood has been president and CEO since BHSI launched.

Small professionals can meet BHSI through Berxi, a direct-to-customer division that sells malpractice, E&O and general liability online.

History

Berkshire launched BHSI in April 2013 to give the group a broker-facing specialty franchise in the mold of the big commercial carriers. Its first leaders came largely from AIG: Eastwood spent 22 years there, and executive vice president David Fields was previously president of AIG Global Casualty. The leadership page still reads like an AIG alumni list, which helps explain how quickly it built a following with large-account brokers.

Through the 2010s BHSI added lines (healthcare liability, executive and professional, surety, marine, travel, transactional liability, homeowners, employer stop loss) and opened offices across the U.S., Australasia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Berxi was added as a direct channel for individual professionals. BHSI says its people came from more than 280 companies, and it publishes its claims service standards under the "Claims is our product" line.

There have been no ownership changes; BHSI has always been a wholly owned Berkshire unit. The group-level change is Gregory Abel's succession of Warren Buffett as Berkshire CEO on January 1, 2026, with Ajit Jain still overseeing insurance.

Business insurance products

BHSI's September 2026 U.S. "At a Glance" lists:

• Property and marine: all-risk property; single-peril earthquake, flood and windstorm; terrorism; builder's risk and open builder's risk; motor truck cargo, warehouse legal liability and equipment dealer floaters; ocean cargo, stock throughput and project cargo.
• Casualty: general liability, lead umbrella and excess liability, auto buffers and retained limits for trucking, manufacturing and distribution, real estate and retail, energy and construction. A separate energy casualty unit covers oil and gas operators and contractors, mining, pipelines, fuel distributors, power generation and refining.
• Transportation: buffer and excess layers, follow form and umbrella, and filings for non-passenger fleets.
• Construction: practice policies, owner- and contractor-controlled insurance programs (wrap-ups) and builder's risk.
• Executive lines: D&O, Side A and excess D&O, employment practices, fiduciary, crime and fidelity bonds, and financial institution E&O for public and large private companies, banks, asset managers and insurers.
• Professional lines: professional liability and cyber for lawyers, architects and engineers, media, technology and real estate firms.
• Transactional liability: representations and warranties, contingent liability and class action settlement insurance.
• Healthcare professional liability: umbrella and excess follow-form for hospitals, physician groups, managed care and senior care, plus captive reinsurance.
• Surety: bid, performance and payment bonds for contractors and suppliers.
• Programs, employer stop loss, travel and high-value homeowners on the East Coast.

Multinational programs cover GL, crime, cyber, D&O, E&O, cargo, property, umbrella and accident and health in more than 170 countries.

For smaller buyers, Berxi sells medical and dental malpractice, E&O and general liability online. Berxi's site says GL is available in most states with a nationwide launch planned for 2026.

Who it insures

BHSI's industry lists point to bigger, more complex accounts: real estate companies, public entities, financial institutions, hospitals and healthcare systems, schools and universities, manufacturers, retailers, developers and general contractors, logistics and trucking fleets, oil and gas, utilities and power. It also has a human and social services package (property, GL, auto, umbrella, professional and crime) for community action organizations, paratransit and youth services agencies, which is one of the few places a smaller organization gets a full BHSI program.

It is a capacity market. Brokers use BHSI for lead umbrella and excess towers, large property limits, buffer layers above a trucking company's primary auto, and D&O for public companies. A main-street business with a simple GL need is not its target; that goes to biBERK, GUARD or USLI within Berkshire. Individual nurses, therapists, dentists and consultants are the Berxi audience.

How to buy

Through a broker. BHSI works with retail and wholesale brokers and with MGAs for program business, and its customer and broker engagement team is organized by U.S. region. There is no online quote for commercial accounts. Because it writes both admitted and non-admitted policies, check the declarations page: a non-admitted BHSI policy is placed through a surplus lines broker, carries surplus lines tax and is generally outside state guaranty fund protection. Our guide to admitted and non-admitted insurers explains the difference.

Berxi is the exception: quotes and purchase are online, with no broker, and support at 833-242-3794.

Claims

BHSI runs its own claims organization and markets service standards around acknowledgment and communication. U.S. claims go to a 24-hour line, 855-453-9675, to the claims email listed on its claims page, or by mail to Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, 500 Northpark Town Center, 1100 Abernathy Road NE, Suite 1200, Atlanta, GA 30328. Ocean marine claims can be reported online. Travel claims go through the travel administrator listed on the claims page, and employer stop loss has its own contacts.

The claims page names the U.S. heads of property, casualty, executive and professional lines, surety, healthcare, programs and transactional liability claims, with direct phone numbers. For D&O, EPLI and fiduciary claims BHSI publishes preferred defense counsel lists, which matter if your policy requires panel counsel.

Financial strength and ratings

BHSI writes on the paper of Berkshire's National Indemnity group, which its materials (updated in 2026) say holds an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best and AA+ from S&P. AM Best affirmed the A++ rating and "aaa" issuer credit rating of National Indemnity Company and its affiliates in April 2025 with a stable outlook; earlier releases list Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company among those affiliates. BHSI's 2026 brochure cites $473.3 billion of admitted assets and $305.9 billion of policyholder surplus for the National Indemnity group at December 31, 2025.

Berkshire does not publish BHSI's premium or underwriting results separately. Its 2025 annual report said BH Primary's prior-year loss estimates rose by about $190 million in 2025, citing social inflation in liability lines, and that BHSI's business mix had pushed up the 2024 expense ratio.

Strengths and weaknesses

BHSI's appeal is simple: top-rated paper, large limits and the ability to write admitted or E&S on one account. The cost is that it is a broker market built for complex risks, and Berkshire is open about walking away when price is inadequate.

• Strengths: A++ (Superior) AM Best and AA+ S&P ratings through the National Indemnity group; large capacity in property, excess casualty, D&O and healthcare excess; admitted and non-admitted paper plus multinational programs in more than 170 countries; in-house claims with named U.S. claims leaders and a 24-hour reporting line.
• Weaknesses: Broker-only for commercial business, with no online quoting outside Berxi; not built for small, simple accounts; E&S policies lack guaranty fund protection; Berkshire's stated discipline means BHSI may cut capacity or decline renewals when pricing softens, and it discloses no standalone financials.

How to contact Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance