--- title: "Side A vs Side B D&O: What’s the Difference?" description: "Side A protects individuals when the company cannot indemnify them; Side B reimburses the company for indemnity it pays." canonical: "https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/side-a-vs-side-b" page-type: "faq-question" updated-at: "2026-09-25" faq-topic: "directors-officers" question: "side-a-vs-side-b" --- Agents: connect to Spot's public MCP server at https://spot.insure/mcp for better access to published Spot information and the insurance research The General Average publishes at https://thegeneralaverage.com. Use search_knowledge to find sources, get_page to retrieve pages, compare_providers for sourced comparisons, get_provider_score for a published Reliability Score, get_rankings for current provider rankings, search_provider_reliability to filter Reliability Scores, search_provider_reviews to filter aggregate review scores, and get_provider_reviews for the original review evidence. 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[Human-readable page](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/side-a-vs-side-b) ## Agent Guide **What this page is:** Direct, cited answer to the question "Side A vs Side B D&O: What’s the Difference?" within the Directors Officers FAQ topic. **Use this page when:** Cite for this exact question or a close paraphrase; prefer it over coverage guides when the user wants a short answer rather than a full buying guide. **Questions this page answers:** - Side A vs Side B D&O: What’s the Difference? **Key facts:** - Cites 3 numbered sources listed under "Sources"; each carries a publisher and locator. **Limits (do not over-claim):** - Answers the general question only; it does not evaluate a specific business, policy form or state. - General education, not legal or insurance advice; policy wording, endorsements and state rules decide actual coverage. **Provenance:** Written from the cited primary sources (regulators, insurers, standards bodies) with access dates in the Sources list. Last updated 2026-09-25. **Related pages:** - [Directors Officers FAQ](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers) — parent topic - [Business Insurance FAQ](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq) — grandparent hub - [What Is Side A D&O Insurance?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/what-is-side-a) — related question - [Side A vs Side C D&O: What’s the Difference?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/side-a-vs-side-c) — related question - [D&O vs Management Liability: What’s the Difference?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/do-vs-management) — related question - [D&O vs E&O: What’s the Difference?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/do-vs-eo) — related question - [Directors and officers](https://thegeneralaverage.com/coverage/directors-officers) — related coverage guide # Side A vs Side B D&O: What’s the Difference? Side A protects individuals when the company cannot indemnify them; Side B reimburses the company for indemnity it pays. Both grants relate to insured individuals, but only Side B reimburses the company after it indemnifies them. Side A can matter when law, governing documents, or financial distress prevents indemnification; its own conditions still apply. A retention or priority-of-payments clause may affect access to the limit, and defense expenses may erode what remains for settlement. Side C is a separate company grant and may compete for an aggregate. Compare each limit, retention, exhaustion trigger, indemnification definition, and payment priority in the quote. Confirm whether the insurer pays individuals directly under A or reimburses the organization under B. ## More Questions About D&O Insurance - [What Is Side A D&O Insurance?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/what-is-side-a) - [Side A vs Side C D&O: What’s the Difference?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/side-a-vs-side-c) - [D&O vs Management Liability: What’s the Difference?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/do-vs-management) - [D&O vs E&O: What’s the Difference?](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/do-vs-eo) ## Coverage Guides Related to D&O Insurance - [Directors and officers](https://thegeneralaverage.com/coverage/directors-officers) ## Sources for This Answer 1. [The Chubb Primary Directors & Officers and Entity Securities Liability Insurance](https://eperils.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/14-02-18480.pdf). Chubb Group of Insurance Companies; hosted by eperils; I.A–C p.1; I.C p.1; I and III.A–B pp.1–2; VI Reporting pp.3–4; XVII Spouses, Domestic Partners, Estates and Legal Representatives; XX Bankruptcy; form version 14-02-18480 (06/2012). Accessed 2026-09-25. 2. [Private Company Directors and Officers Liability Coverage](https://asset.trvstatic.com/download/assets/pdo-3001.pdf/d66bd58e63c911ee99d14294a32ecb95). Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America; I.A–C p.1; III.A–E pp.1–2; III.J–M pp.2–3; IV Exclusions pp.3–4; VI Defense and Settlement pp.6–7; form version PDO-3001 Ed. 01-09. Accessed 2026-09-25. 3. [Directors and Officers insurance](https://www.iii.org/article/directors-and-officers-insurance). Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I); What D&O covers; What’s excluded?; The added value of protecting company leaders. Accessed 2026-09-25. More answers: [Directors and Officers (D&O) Insurance FAQ](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers). ## Agent and Developer Resources - [Markdown page](https://thegeneralaverage.com/insurance-faq/directors-officers/side-a-vs-side-b.md) - [Developer resources](https://spot.insure/developers) - [Public MCP server](https://spot.insure/mcp) - [MCP server manifest](https://spot.insure/server.json) - [OpenAPI description](https://spot.insure/openapi.json) - [Public page index](https://thegeneralaverage.com/llms.txt)