Fiduciary liability insurance. Protection for the people who decide.

The people who make decisions about your health plan can be personally liable for a fiduciary breach, and other company policies often don't cover it. Ethos Benefits reviews your fiduciary liability, D&O and E&O coverage, identifies the gaps, and helps you and your insurance broker put the right protection in place.

Request a Strategic Analysis

What you get.

Many companies assume their D&O policy protects plan fiduciaries, and it often excludes ERISA claims. The ERISA fidelity bond protects the plan, not the people on the committee.

Coverage reviewYour current fiduciary liability, D&O and E&O policies read for ERISA exclusions, limits, retentions and who counts as an insured.
Gap analysisWhere the people who act as plan fiduciaries are exposed, and what coverage would close the gap.
Placement guidanceCoverage specifications for your insurance broker, and the quotes reviewed with you side by side.
Fidelity bond checkWhether your plan needs an ERISA fidelity bond, and whether the bond in place meets the requirement.
Committee briefingA plain explanation for your committee of what is covered, what is not and why it matters.

Who is personally exposed.

ERISA makes a fiduciary who breaches a duty personally liable to restore the plan’s losses (ERISA § 409). A fiduciary is anyone with discretionary authority over the plan, which usually includes the people on your benefits committee and the executives who make plan decisions. Read who counts as a fiduciary.

Three kinds of protection.

Coverage	Protects	Covers
Fiduciary liability insurance	The plan’s fiduciaries	Defense costs and losses from claims of a breach of fiduciary duty
ERISA fidelity bond	The plan	Losses from fraud or dishonesty by people who handle plan funds
D&O insurance	Directors and officers	Management liability claims, often with an ERISA exclusion

ERISA allows a plan, a fiduciary or the employer to buy insurance that covers fiduciaries (ERISA § 410(b)). Coverage doesn’t replace a prudent process. It protects the people who follow one.

Part of your Fiduciary Framework™.

Every Ethos service reports to your benefits committee. The work is reviewed at your quarterly committee meeting, each decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it, and the record lives in your Ethos Fiduciary OS. That is what lets your committee show the plan was run prudently.

See the Fiduciary Framework™ · How fiduciary governance works

Sources

29 U.S. Code § 1109, liability for breach of fiduciary duty (ERISA § 409), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
29 U.S. Code § 1110, exculpatory provisions and insurance (ERISA § 410), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
29 U.S. Code § 1112, bonding (ERISA § 412), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

Questions employers ask about this.

Does Ethos sell fiduciary liability insurance?

No. Ethos reviews your coverage and helps you and your insurance broker get the right protection in place. The policy is placed by your broker.

Is an ERISA bond the same as fiduciary insurance?

No. An ERISA fidelity bond protects the plan against fraud or dishonesty by people who handle plan funds. Fiduciary liability insurance protects the fiduciaries themselves against claims of a breach of duty.

Does our D&O policy cover ERISA claims?

Often not. Many D&O policies exclude ERISA claims, which is why fiduciary liability coverage is usually written separately. The only way to know is to read your policy.

Who should be covered?

Everyone who acts as a fiduciary of the plan: the company, committee members, and officers and employees who make or carry out plan decisions.

See what your plan is really costing you.

A Strategic Analysis starts with your plan documents and your broker agreement, then shows you what your plan costs, where the risk sits, and what a committee would decide with the full picture.

Request a Strategic Analysis Call (407) 803-4710