Private Client Insurance

There’s no universal trigger point, but a handful of signals typically push a household out of mass-market and into private client coverage.

The primary residence is over $1.5 million in replacement cost. At that level, mass-market home insurance forms often start failing, coverage caps for contents, ordinance and law, jewelry, and water backup are no longer adequate, and replacement-cost mechanics may not be guaranteed.

There’s a second home, a third home, or an investment property. Mass-market carriers may decline secondary properties or impose vacancy clauses that complicate ski-house, lake-house, and seasonal use patterns. Private client carriers tend to write these on coordinated forms.

The household has a teen driver, a household employee, or recreational exposures. Adding a young driver to a household with $1M+ in net worth often warrants moving umbrella coverage from $1M to $5M or higher. Standard carriers may not write that limit comfortably for a household with multiple risk factors.

There are scheduled valuables (jewelry, art, watches, wine, firearms) exceeding standard contents limits. Mass-market policies typically cap unscheduled contents at low limits and don’t write worldwide protection cleanly. Private client carriers may schedule individual items with agreed value and worldwide coverage.

The household has elevated public profile, board service, or estate complexity. Personal injury coverage, defamation/libel/slander protection, and trust-titled property all benefit from private client forms.

Four carriers anchor Avery’s private client placements. Each has a distinct appetite and structural strength. The right fit depends on the household’s specific mix of exposures.

Chubb Masterpiece: The Benchmark Form

Chubb’s Masterpiece program is widely considered the benchmark in private client insurance. Their home form may include guaranteed replacement cost (uncapped), may offer cash settlement on total losses, and typically carries broad contents and ordinance-and-law coverage. The auto program may include agreed-value treatment on classics and exotics, OEM parts, and a higher uninsured motorist tier. The umbrella may extend to $50 million and typically includes employment practices liability for domestic staff.

Where Chubb tends to set itself apart is claims handling. Concierge adjusters typically work the file end-to-end, coordinate vendors, and write decisive checks. For a $3M home loss or a complex multi-line claim, Chubb’s depth in private client claims is often the differentiator.

PURE: Member-Owned Reciprocal Exchange Built Around Complex Households

PURE is structured as a member-owned reciprocal exchange, which means policyholders are also subscriber-owners and may share in dividends after favorable loss years. The underwriting tends to be customized rather than off-the-shelf, with manuscript forms that may be tailored to households carrying multiple residences, scheduled valuables, and layered umbrella needs. PURE’s home forms may offer broad worldwide language on certain endorsements, and the program is often a strong fit for complex multi-property households who place value on the reciprocal exchange model. The service posture is typically member-centric, with loss prevention and risk management resources designed for the way affluent households actually live.

Berkley One: A Newer HNW Option with Competitive Forms

Berkley One has expanded its private client appetite significantly in recent years. The program may offer competitive home, auto, and umbrella coverage with terms that often rival the more established HNW markets. Where Berkley One can stand out is willingness to consider households and exposures that the legacy private client carriers decline, and a service model that may feel more agile.

For households new to private client coverage (graduating up from mass-market) Berkley One can sometimes be an easier entry point. The actual breadth of coverage depends on the specific form issued and underwriting outcome.

Cincinnati Insurance: Relationship-Driven Placements

Cincinnati Insurance brings a different posture to the private client market, relationship-based underwriting with a long-term view of the account. Their executive private client program may include broad home, auto, valuables, and umbrella coverage with appetite for households that value continuity and a single point of contact.

Cincinnati tends to fit well for clients who don’t need a marquee brand name but do need a carrier that will know their account over time. Their claims handling typically reflects the same relationship-first posture. An agency like Avery Insurance, with over 125 years of client advocacy, can help determine which of Avery’s HNW carrier roster may best match your household’s mix of exposures.

A private client program isn’t just better forms. It’s the coordination of those forms across the household’s entire balance sheet. Done right, a private client program reduces the chance of a coverage gap to almost zero.

Home, auto, umbrella, and valuables all sit on the same carrier (or two coordinated carriers). The umbrella typically requires underlying limits on home and auto, and coordinating with one carrier may prevent gaps. Worldwide contents may extend automatically to the second home, the rental property, and the household members traveling internationally. Scheduled jewelry on the home policy may travel with the family without needing a separate floater.

Trust-titled or LLC-titled property gets the right endorsement. Many private client carriers may write coverage for property held in revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and family LLCs, recognizing that estate planning structures don’t change the household’s actual insurable interest. Mass-market carriers often stumble on this, leaving a $3M home titled to a trust without proper coverage.

Domestic staff, household employees, and event coverage get coordinated. Workers compensation, EPLI, and employer liability for household staff are often written under a coordinated private client program. Special-event coverage for weddings, large gatherings, and fundraisers can typically be endorsed onto the existing umbrella or home form.

Recreational and specialty assets get appropriate forms. The boat goes on a marine policy. The collector cars go on agreed-value forms (often Chubb, Hagerty, Grundy, American Modern, or Berkley One depending on the vehicle and use). The art and jewelry get scheduled. Everything coordinates to the umbrella above.

What separates a coordinated private client program from a stack of policies is the endorsement set. The endorsements below are typical on private client accounts and often missing or sublimited on mass-market policies.

Equipment breakdown coverage. May include HVAC, generators, smart home systems, and high-end appliances. Standard policies typically sublimit or exclude these.

Service line coverage. May cover underground utility lines (water, sewer, power) from the street to the home, a common claim on older NH homes with deteriorating service lines.

Identity theft and cyber. May include credit monitoring, restoration services, and cyber extortion coverage. Increasingly important as cyber exposure grows.

Personal injury liability. May include defamation, libel, slander, false arrest, and invasion of privacy. Important for clients with board service, public profile, or social media presence.

Employment practices liability for household staff. May cover wrongful termination, harassment, and discrimination claims from nannies, housekeepers, groundskeepers, and other domestic employees.

Kidnap and ransom. May include K&R coverage for the household when traveling internationally, particularly relevant for executives and clients with international exposure.

Trust and LLC endorsements. Coverage may extend to property and liability for entities titled in revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and family LLCs.

The hardest part of moving from mass-market to private client coverage isn’t the cost. It’s the coordination. The carriers above each have different strengths, and the right fit depends on the specific mix of exposures your household carries.

The questions worth asking your advisor before binding a private client program: Does the home form use guaranteed replacement cost, and at what cap? What’s the contents schedule structure, and does it travel worldwide? What’s the umbrella limit, and does it include EPLI for household staff? Are second homes written on the same form or separate policies? How are collector cars, boats, and aircraft handled, coordinated or off-platform? What’s the claims service model, and who would you actually call after a loss?



A good private client advisor will walk you through these questions and recommend the carrier (or coordinated pair of carriers) that fits your household. The advisor’s job isn’t just to bind a policy, it’s to assemble the coordinated program. Request Coverage through Avery Insurance to begin that conversation.

What net worth or home value triggers private client coverage? There’s no universal trigger, but most private client programs make sense above a $1.5M primary residence or $2M, $5M in total insurable exposure across home, auto, and valuables. The threshold is more about exposure complexity than a single dollar figure.

Is private client insurance more expensive than mass-market? Sometimes, but not always. The coverage is broader, so direct premium comparisons aren’t apples-to-apples. For some households, consolidating to a private client carrier may actually reduce total cost compared to a stack of mass-market policies with gaps.

Can I keep one mass-market policy and move others to a private client carrier? Yes, though coordination becomes harder. Most advisors recommend consolidating home, auto, and umbrella onto the same private client carrier so the umbrella’s underlying-limit requirements align cleanly.

Do I need to switch all my carriers at once? No. Many households move incrementally, typically starting with the home and umbrella, then auto, then valuables. The advisor’s job is to sequence the move without creating gaps mid-transition.

What happens to my existing claim history when I switch? Private client carriers may consider loss history during underwriting, but they typically take a more nuanced view than mass-market carriers. A single weather-related claim doesn’t usually disqualify a household, especially with proper context from the advisor.

Does private client insurance cover overseas property? Some carriers do, with endorsements. Certain HNW carriers in Avery’s roster may carry broader international language on specific forms. Confirm with your advisor before binding if you have a residence abroad.