Frequently Asked Questions
What would you like to know about THREE?
Sure, THREE provides comprehensive coverage through a simple, straightforward policy, but you’re still bound to have some questions. After all, we’re not like any other small business insurer you’ve worked with before.
Popular Questions
Accountants need coverage for accidental errors and omissions, wine bars need coverage for liquor liability, and truckers need coverage for their cargo. Every small business has different needs.THREE provides broad coverage to address the typical needs of small businesses across a wide variety of industries. Other providers offer a countless assortment of supplemental policies and optional coverages or endorsements which, even if inexpensive, still need to be added. If you don’t pick the right ones, your business won’t have the coverage it should. We believe the coverage your business needs should be included, not hidden away in optional endorsements you need to request. If for any reason you think your needs may not be covered by our policy, call us at 1-800-507-4495 to speak with a Small Business Advisor.
THREE has created insurance that is clear and straightforward. Our policy is also completely new, which makes it hard to compare against the standard jumble of jargon-filled policies from other providers. That’s why our Small Business Advisors have been trained to decipher and compare insurance policies. Just gather your current policies and call 1-800-507-4495. We’ll help you compare and see the big picture. In most cases, the biggest difference is that THREE covers you for a far broader array of risks — real risks that affect your business – than your existing policies. This broader coverage means better protection and value for your business.
The Business Owner’s Policy (BOP) was first introduced in the 1970s to address the insurance needs of 1970s small businesses. The coverage included in a BOP varies from insurer to insurer, but typically includes some carefully limited coverage for your business’s property and liability.
To achieve adequate coverage, businesses may end up combining a BOP with other policies, requiring careful examination of the fine print to avoid any unexpected gaps in coverage or costly overlaps. For example, most BOPs do not include professional liability, auto insurance, worker’s compensation, flood protection or cyber insurance.
THREE is designed to provide broad coverage tailored to the unique needs of modern businesses in a single policy – reducing the risk of unexpected gaps or coverage overlaps – and eliminates unnecessary complexity at a price lower than they would otherwise pay.
An umbrella policy is typically purchased to provide additional liability limits above one or more other policies, such as a General Liability or Auto Liability policy. Depending on your business, THREE can offer liability limits as high as $20 million without the need for a separate policy.
Insurance companies are conservative by nature. Most are not looking to rock the boat or try something new (unlike many small businesses), so they keep selling the same kind of insurance the same way they did 50 years ago. Berkshire Hathaway decided it was time for a change to better meet the needs of today’s small businesses.
Your THREE policy is just three pages long, so reviewing it is easy. But if you have specific questions about your coverage, or need to provide proof of insurance, just call 1-800-507-4495 to speak with a Small Business Advisor.
In every state where THREE is available, we received approval from the Insurance Commissioner, Department of Insurance, or the equivalent regulator to sell THREE.
THREE is expanding across the country, but we may not be available yet in the states where your business is based. For the most up to date information regarding our availability, call 1-800-507-4495.
THREE’s Small Business Advisors are licensed agents who are here to help you with your small business insurance needs, from simple questions to an exact quote. Our advisors are available to help policyholders file a claim, update their policy, request a certificate of insurance, and adjust billing information.
Small Business Advisors are licensed insurance agents that have been specifically trained in the needs of small businesses.
Call us at 1-800-507-4495 right away. We have arranged for industry-leading cyber response services, including a professional “breach coach” who can guide you through the process of determining if you have been a victim of a cyber event, and what to do next.
Insurance is regulated in the United States on a state-by-state basis. We have added an endorsement to our THREE policy in certain states in order to address the unique statutory requirements in those states.
How It All Works
A quote starts with understanding. In order to understand your business, we’ll ask you questions about its activities, including sales, employees, locations, and vehicles. To keep things moving quickly, it’s helpful to have information handy, like your total payroll and a rough breakdown of the categories of activity for your employees as well as basic details about locations and vehicles.
Don’t worry if you do not have all the information at your fingertips, you can always save your quote and return to it later.
To file a claim, call 1-800-507-4495 as soon as possible. One of our Small Business Advisors will collect some basic information about the situation so an Account Manager can be assigned. They will reach out to you to advise on next steps. You will be able to contact them directly throughout the life of your claim for any questions or to request status updates.
If you already have an existing policy or policies for coverage offered by THREE, you may cancel them with immediate effect and will likely receive a refund. You can do this by contacting your current providers directly and informing them that you have placed coverage elsewhere.
Just call 1-800-507-4495 and tell the Small Business Advisor you need to update your policy. They’ll take your information on the spot.
The Service Center is open five days a week. Our Small Business Advisors are ready to help Monday through Friday 8am–9pm EST.
Historically, small businesses worked with insurance brokers and agents to create insurance “bundles,” which are exactly what they sound like: a group of individual policies bundled together so that, as a group, the coverage sought might be achieved. In practice, they are often inadequate, leaving dangerous gaps among policies’ terms and unnecessary costs caused by overlapping coverage.
THREE is different. We provide small businesses with one comprehensive policy designed to provide the coverage they need—from liability to workers’ compensation to flood and cyber—doing away with multiple policies and thereby avoiding the gaps and the overlaps that could result from piecing together separate policies. (And in case you were wondering, you won’t be paying for coverage you don’t need. Each policy’s price is based on an individual business’s specific assets and exposures.)
A lot. While THREE is new, Berkshire Hathaway isn’t new to small business insurance. We have been insuring large and small businesses for decades. Which is how we knew it was time for a change. Based on our experience, we specifically created THREE to respond to the unique needs of modern small businesses across a wide variety of industries.
Not with us. “THREE” or “THREE Insurance” is a product not a company. THREE is the name of the three-page product form underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company.
Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company is rated AA+ by Standard & Poor's Corporation. It is also rated A++ (Superior) by A. M. Best with respect to their financial condition and operating performance. A summary of Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company’s financial condition can be found here:
THREE is a new kind of insurance product, but we're not exactly new to the insurance business. We're part of the Berkshire Hathaway group of insurance companies, one of the largest insurance groups in the world. Berkshire Hathaway has been in the insurance business since 1967 when it purchased National Indemnity Company (which was founded in 1940).
Your THREE policy is supported by a 90% quota share reinsurance agreement from National Indemnity Company, the largest property/casualty company in the world as measured by net worth. A summary of National Indemnity Company’s financial condition can be found here:
THREE was designed to cover multiple risks that normally require the purchase of multiple policies, often through different carriers. THREE is appropriate for most small businesses that purchase multiple lines of coverage. If your business deliberately picks-and-chooses not to insure against certain risk, or actively manages its insurance exposure, the THREE product may not be the right fit for your business. For more information, please call one of our Small Business Advisors.
Getting A Quote
Depending on the complexity of your business and the number of vehicles and locations you have, it should take about 15 minutes to get your quote over the phone. We don’t need to complete the quote process all at once, we can always save your information and pick up where you left off at a later time.
If you’d like to adjust your limits or deductibles, just call us at 1-800-507-4495. A Small Business Advisor will work with you to adjust the limits and deductibles of your policy as requested.
THREE is designed to accommodate small businesses of many shapes and sizes. During the quote process, we ask about buildings and vehicles your business may own or lease. If you don't have any buildings or vehicles, you don't pay for any buildings or vehicles – it’s that simple. But if that changes, a quick phone call is all it takes to ensure they are included in your coverage.
Yes, the quote provided to you is the actual price that you will pay for your policy—assuming that all of the information you provided was complete and accurate. If you have any questions call 1-800-507-4495 to speak with one of our Small Business Advisors.
Depending upon the laws of your state, we may be required to adjust your premium when your policy is up for renewal based on changes in your business’ payroll. This is called a premium audit. This is not unique to THREE; we follow the procedure required of any insurer offering workers’ compensation coverage in your state. Once again, if you have questions, please call 1-800-507-4495 to speak with one of our Small Business Advisors.
THREE is a one-year policy. Your annual premium is payable in 12 equal monthly payments. Automatically recurring payments may be made with a credit card or by electronic bank transfer (ACH). In some states, customers may elect to pay their entire annual premium up front and recognize 5% savings.
While it is easy to compare two similar policies, it is more complicated to compare one comprehensive THREE policy with five or more other policies. That’s why our Small Business Advisors have been trained to decipher and compare insurance policies. Just gather your current policies and call 1-800-507-4495. We'll help you compare so that you have a sense of what THREE provides as compared to your other existing policies.
The idea of insurance is simple: protection against the unexpected. At some point, insurers–small business insurers, in particular–lost sight of that idea and began narrowly defining coverage, while drafting increasingly complex policies. This led to small businesses requiring multiple policies in order to obtain the coverage they typically need. One of the problems that results is that these multiple policies sometimes provide overlapping coverage, and at other times leave gaps between them (that are not easy to anticipate given the complex wording and inconsistent treatment of exclusions and limitations). With THREE, you’re not left wondering if you have the coverage your business needs. You know what's covered and how your company is protected, because you can read it and understand it in one short review.
Management & Services
Call 1-800-507-4495 and a Small Business Advisor will be able to make all necessary changes for you.
Just give us a call at 1-800-507-4495 and we’ll take care of it.
Let us know as soon as your business adds or gets rid of a vehicle so we can update your account and make sure you’re covered for the vehicles you have and not paying for ones you don’t. Adding or removing a vehicle is easy. Just call 1-800-507-4495 with your vehicle’s details and a Small Business Advisor will take care of it for you.
Just call 1-800-507-4495 and speak with a Small Business Advisor. To be sure your new location is covered, let us know as soon as possible when your business acquires or sells a building or even opens a location in a new state. (Remember, THREE is currently not available in every state.)
You don’t need to notify us every time an employee joins or leaves your business, but it’s important to let us know when there are significant changes to your payroll or staffing. Just call us at 1-800-507-4495 and we’ll update your account.
Your business’ payroll is just one factor in your premium. To find out how a staff change may impact your premium, speak with a Small Business Advisor. Keeping us up-to-date throughout the year will minimize the likelihood of any premium adjustments at the end of your policy.
A premium audit is a state-mandated, year-end reconciliation for the workers’ compensation portion of your policy. If your business’ payroll decreases, you get a refund, if it increases, you owe what’s referred to as a premium reconciliation payment. Keeping us informed of staffing changes will minimize these end-of-policy year charges.
Keeping us up to date on employee changes throughout the year will minimize the impact of your premium audit.
A premium audit is conducted at the end of your policy’s term, and is an insurer’s way of tracking changes in your business’ payroll during the year. We'll compare that information with the information provided at the beginning of the year. Then, a reconciliation payment or credit may be issued.
Call 1-800-507-4495 to tell us when you’d like your policy to end. You may need to submit a cancellation request in writing as well. We will send you a notice confirming your cancellation and process the pro-rated return of premium if applicable.
Call 1-800-507-4495 to speak with a Small Business Advisor. They can provide details about your past and future payments.
You’ll receive an email 10 days before your payment is charged. You can also call 1-800-507-4495 to speak with a Small Business Advisor.
THREE is designed to accommodate business fluctuations, but if your business experiences significant changes, such as rapid expansion, increased equipment or larger inventory you may want to adjust your policy limits before your next renewal. Just call 1-800-507-4495 to discuss your situation with a Small Business Advisor.
You can request a certificate of insurance over the phone. We will need to know who the certificate should be sent to, their email or mailing address, and whether they need a liability or property certificate. Once you make the request, the COI will be sent to the individual with a copy sent to you.
It is often the case that a lender for a facility, vehicle, or large piece of equipment wishes to be added to your policy as an Additional Insured. We can take care of this over the phone. Call 1-800-507-4495 and provide your Small Business Advisor with the name, address, and reason for adding the Additional Insured to the policy.
File a Claim
To file a claim, call 1-800-507-4495 as soon as possible. One of our Small Business Advisors will collect some basic information about the situation so an Account Manager can be assigned. They will reach out to you to advise on next steps. You will be able to contact them directly throughout the life of your claim for any questions or to request status updates.
The deductible is the portion of each claim that you are responsible for paying. THREE is responsible for amounts above the deductible, up to the specified limit for each type of coverage. The deducible amounts for different types of coverage are listed on your Policy Summary.
Though your business is ultimately responsible for the deductible portion for all claims, for liability claims (those claims where someone else is trying to get money from your business) THREE will pay the amounts within the deductible on behalf of your business in addition to our own responsibility, and afterward we will bill your business for the deductible portion. If you have selected a $0 liability deductible, then THREE will be responsible for the entire claim up to the limit, and you will not receive a bill from us for amounts within the deductible.
The limit is the maximum amount to be paid by THREE for a given claim. (All limits are explained in the Quote Summary prior to purchasing your policy.) For liability claims, if we think the policy limits may not be enough to resolve the claim, we will work with your business to make sure the options are clearly explained—these claims may involve ongoing legal proceedings.
For claims other than liability, if the loss is greater than the policy limit, then THREE will pay our limit, and your business will be responsible for amounts above the limit.
For liability claims covered under our policy, THREE will arrange for legal counsel to defend your business if necessary and arrange for settlement if appropriate.
No, the costs of defending claims against your business—such as lawyers’ fees—do not affect your coverage. We continue to pay these defense costs, in addition to the coverage allowed to your business under the applicable liability policy limit, up until we have paid out the full liability limit.
A claim will not impact your premium during the current policy year. At renewal time, claims history is just one factor among many that will be used to determine your premium. The specific impact of any given claim will be based on the characteristics and size of the specific claim.
Your Account Manager will call and email to keep you up to date on the status of your claim as it is being processed. Of course you can reach out to them directly any time you have a question regarding your claim.
If your claim requires a payment to a vendor, lawyer, or other claimant, we'll often pay them directly. If the claim needs to be paid to you for a direct loss, we will typically send a check directly to you.
Your Account Manager can usually accept documents, such as a police report, in whatever way is easiest for you: email, fax, mail.
Generally speaking, you should contact us as soon as possible. If there’s been an accident, fire, or burglary make sure everyone is safe and call 911 if it’s an emergency. Your next call should be to us at 1-800-507-4495. In some cases we may be able to help minimize an incident’s impact on your business.