E&O Professional Liability Insurance

Errors & Omission/Professional Liability Insurance – General liability policies exclude coverage for professional exposure.  For instance, if you are an architect, engineer, accountant, consultant, construction manager or doctor, your general liability policy will not pay to defend you or pay any claim that stems from your professional exposure.  Your business would need an Errors and Omissions / Professional Liability policy to properly insure your risk.  Professional exclusions are not limited to those mentioned above, so it is important to discuss your business with your insurance agent to make sure any gaps are addressed.    As a business professional, you put a lot of time and money into your business and you need a policy that will pay to defend you when a lawsuit arises.  Keep in mind, you do not have to make an error, omission or do anything wrong in order for someone to sue your business.

Umbrella or Excess Liability Insurance – This policy is written over various primary coverage such as General Liability Insurance, Commercial Auto Insurance, and Workers’ Compensation Insurance. It provides excess limits when your other policies are exhausted and can even offer protection against some claims not covered by underlying policies.  Many businesses purchase this type of coverage for contractual reasons; however it is very much a business decision.  As your business grows it is important to make sure you have the insurance limits in place to help protect your business in the event of a large loss.  Most often this type of coverage is very affordable to a business owner and it is important to consider the annual cost of the policy with the coverage it provides at the time of loss.  This type of risk transfer is almost always worth the annual premium.