Counterpart, the Los Angeles-based management liability insurtech, has announced the launch of their partnership with Bermudian-headquartered Aspen Insurance to bring Aspen’s management liability products to small businesses across a broader array of industries and geographies.

The company said Aspen joins a member company of Markel, as another A-rated carrier that is supporting the Counterpart platform.

Counterpart said more than 5.4 million new business applications were filed last year in the United States, surpassing the record set in 2020 of 4.4 million, according to the country’s census bureau.

This comes at a time of costly employee, management and regulatory related claims that can easily bankrupt a small business, it said.

Counterpart said it brings the first of its kind insurance platform that pairs proprietary data and cutting edge technology to underwrite management liability insurance to companies with up to 250 employees.

"From vaccine mandates to hybrid workplaces to supply chain constraints, small businesses and their key stakeholders are facing a completely new risk paradigm," said Tanner Hackett, CEO of Counterpart.

"However, legacy carriers have done little to adapt to the needs of modern businesses beyond the four corners of a PDF application and insurance policy – their failure to embrace digitisation and data science has made management liability more expensive and less accessible while businesses need it more than ever.

“We’re teaming up with forward-thinking carriers like Aspen and Markel to transform management liability insurance by combining their strong balance sheets and respected teams with Counterpart’s data and product expertise."

Counterpart said its gross written premium grew more than 400 per cent over the last 12 months and is forecast to quadruple again in 2022.

The company said it works with more than 1,000 of the largest and most respected brokers in the country and has one of the industry’s best loss ratios.

Counterpart’s unique risk selection and mitigation capabilities leverage more than 3,000 data points in addition to traditional insurance application questions.

Zac Clammer, the Bermudian-based executive vice-president, management liability, Aspen Insurance, said: "Counterpart is optimised for a constituency of small businesses that many other insurance carriers have struggled to support.

"I have been thoroughly impressed with Counterpart’s innovative technology, novel data infrastructure and strong distribution partnerships. Aspen is excited to support Counterpart’s mission to transform management liability insurance."

Scott Whitehead, managing director, Markel, added: "Markel has believed in the approach and leadership at Counterpart from day one, and the performance has continued to exceed our expectations.

"It has been exciting to work with an insurtech that is utilising AI to increase the efficiency at which they serve small businesses."

Counterpart raised $30 million in a Series B financing round in March, bringing the company’s total financing to $40 million.