Commercial Insurance
Professional liability & E&O for the advice and services you provide
When your business provides expertise, a client may claim your advice, service, or work caused them financial harm. As your risk advisor, we read your contracts and engagements, then build professional liability and errors & omissions coverage around the professional services you actually deliver.
What is professional liability insurance?
Professional liability insurance helps protect businesses from certain claims involving mistakes, negligence, professional errors, omissions, inaccurate advice, inadequate work, or failure to perform professional services as expected. It is also commonly called errors and omissions insurance, or E&O.
Where general liability focuses on bodily injury and property damage, professional liability focuses on the financial harm that may come from professional services, advice, recommendations, designs, consulting, or specialized work. In simple terms, it helps protect your business when a client claims your professional work caused financial damage.
Professional liability vs. errors and omissions
Professional liability and E&O are usually different names for the same protection. Some industries call it professional liability; others call it E&O. Medical businesses may hear malpractice or medical professional liability; technology companies may call it technology E&O; real estate, consulting, and finance firms often call it errors and omissions.
The name changes by industry, but the purpose is the same: helping protect the business from claims that its professional services, advice, or work caused a client to suffer financial loss.
Who should review professional liability
- Consultants & business advisors
- Real estate & property managers
- Technology & IT providers
- Architects & engineers
- Design-build & construction managers
- Medical & healthcare offices
- Accountants & bookkeepers
- Marketing & creative firms
- Professional & service firms
Claims-made coverage and why timing matters
Many professional liability and E&O policies are written on a claims-made basis, which means timing matters. The date the service was performed, the date the claim is made, the date it is reported, and the policy’s retroactive date can all affect whether coverage applies.
A gap in coverage, a missed renewal, the wrong retroactive date, or a late claim report can create serious problems. We help you review these details — retroactive dates, prior acts, and extended reporting period options — so you understand how the policy responds before a claim occurs.
E&O coverage built around the advice your firm actually gives
A professional liability claim rarely hinges on whether you were negligent. It hinges on whether a client felt your work cost them money, and whether your policy was written to defend the exact service you sell. We structure E&O around your real engagements, not a generic form.
- Definition-of-services reviewWe read your contracts and scopes of work, then match the policy's covered professional services language to them so a routine engagement is far less likely to be argued out of coverage after the fact.
- Defense-cost structure checkWhether defense erodes your limit or sits outside it changes everything in a drawn-out dispute. We flag it before you bind, not when a demand letter arrives.
- Prior-acts and tail planningClaims-made E&O punishes gaps in coverage. We protect your retroactive date through renewals, carrier switches, and ownership changes so old work stays defended.
- Named advisor on first noticeThe moment a client threatens a claim, you reach an advisor who knows your file and how to report it without prejudicing your defense, not a 1-800 intake queue.
Round out your professional liability program
E&O rarely stands alone. These related coverages and resources close the exposures most often left open for service firms and licensed professionals.
Directors & Officers
When a management decision, not a service error, triggers the suit, D&O answers where E&O stops. Critical for firms with boards, investors, or partners.
Explore D&O coverageCyber Liability
Client data lives on your systems. A breach or wire-fraud loss falls outside most E&O forms, which is exactly the gap cyber liability is built to close.
See cyber coverageProfessional Services Industries
How we tailor risk programs for consultants, agencies, design firms, and other professionals, beyond the policy itself.
View professional servicesProfessional liability FAQs
What does professional liability / E&O insurance cover?
It helps cover claims that your professional advice, services, designs, or work contained an error, omission, or negligence that caused a client financial loss — including legal defense costs, settlements, and judgments, subject to the policy terms. A client does not have to be right to file a claim, and even baseless claims cost money to defend.
What is the difference between professional liability and general liability?
General liability covers bodily injury and property damage. Professional liability covers financial harm from your professional services, advice, or work. Many businesses need both, because general liability typically will not respond to a claim about professional judgment, design, or advice.
What is a retroactive date on a claims-made policy?
The retroactive date is the earliest date of work the policy will cover. Services performed before that date are generally not covered, even if the claim is filed during the policy period — which is why maintaining continuous coverage and the correct retroactive date is critical.
Do contractors need professional liability?
Some do. Design-build contractors, construction managers, and trades that provide design input, system sizing, inspections, or recommendations can have professional exposure that general liability will not cover — and contracts increasingly require it.
Professional liability built tough. Covered right.
Your expertise is valuable — and it is also an exposure. Protect your advice, services, and reputation. Request a professional liability review today.