About the practice
A specialty practice inside one of the largest independent agencies in the country
There's a good chance this is the first you've heard of us. IOA is an independent agency serving more than 72,000 clients. Here's what that size actually buys a technology company.
- 3rd
largest privately held independent insurance agency in the U.S.
Independent means we work for you, not for one carrier's appetite. At this size, underwriters take the call.
- 83%
of our business is property and casualty
Commercial insurance isn't a side line here. The claims, contract, and risk support were built for business accounts.
- 1,400+
team members
Claims advocacy, risk services, and HR support are IOA employees who work your account directly, not outsourced vendors.
- 60+
locations in the U.S. and U.K.
Remote employees in several states, customers across the country, and international exposure are handled inside one program, without a second agent.
Broad market access
We place technology accounts with the major admitted carriers you already know, and with E&S markets when a piece of the account calls for one. The relationships with technology underwriters are already in place, so your submission goes to people who know what a software or IT services account should look like.
The difference
What we do differently
A traditional agency gives you access to carriers, sells you a policy, and issues your certificates. That's the floor, not the service.
- Read customer agreements before you sign and explain in plain English what they require
- Match the policy's definition of covered services to everything you sell
- Structure E&O and cyber limits so one event doesn't use up the next claim's coverage
- Present your security controls (MFA, EDR, backups) the way cyber underwriters score them
- Get you onto admitted paper where you qualify, not surplus lines by default
- Size limits for the contracts you're bidding on, not only the ones you have
- Work a narrow set of industries, technology among them
- Fewer carriers and fewer gaps between policies
The goal is a program that matches the contracts you sign and the work you actually do.
Beyond the policy
What you get beyond the policy
Placing the coverage is the start, not the whole relationship. These come with the program at no additional cost, and they're staffed in house.
Contract and certificate support
Insurance review of MSAs and SOWs before you sign, same day and rush certificates, and help when a customer's vendor portal rejects one. For tech companies this is the resource that gets used the most.
Claims advocacy
A licensed adjuster on your side of the table who works the claim with the carrier. On an E&O or cyber claim that starts with getting notice right on day one, because claims-made policies don't forgive late reporting.
Cyber resources
Help pulling together the controls documentation cyber underwriters ask for at renewal, presented the way they score it.
HR and employment support
Handbook drafting and review, wage and hour guidance, multi-state questions, and a hotline for the calls you'd rather not make blind.
Training
An online library of 500+ courses, including security awareness and state-required harassment training, in English and Spanish.
Workers' comp support
Annual mod review, unit stat card audit, and a 24/7 nurse triage line, so an injury gets the right level of care the day it happens.
See what a specialty review turns up
A straight read on your program, before anything is sold. No fee, and no expectation that you move anything.
One useful read a month
Contracts, coverage, and risk for technology company owners and CFOs. No fluff.