Do You Need Professional Services Insurance?
As a professional service provider, you are used to giving clients with your much-needed expertise and advice. You might be a financial professional, such as an bookkeeper, a professional marketer, or a consultant in pretty much industry. You may also conduct research, analyze data and make recommendations, develop products, strategies, campaigns etc. for your clients, you may provide media services or other expertise. No matter what your specialty, you provide specific knowledge-based services and/or advice to your clients which they gladly pay for.
If you are such a professional, regardless of whether you work as a sole proprietor, have incorporate or you work/with a larger group or organization, you need to consider Professional Services Insurance. Without it, you could leave yourself and/or your organization open to financial losses in the form of lawsuits if someone alleges that your professional services are negligent in any way.
As someone who relies on your reputation as a professional for your livelihood, give yourself the peace of mind of having Professional Services Insurance.
What Is Covered Through Professional Services Insurance?
This coverage is focused on your professional service and is also called Errors & Omissions Insurance and/or Professional Liability Insurance because it covers allegations of the following:
- Errors and/or omissions
- Professional misconduct
- Negligence
- Bad advice
You may also choose to or be contractually required to carry Commercial General Liability Insurance, which protects you from third-party property damage and bodily injury as a result of interacting with you or your business. This additional coverage, as well as Cyber Liability Insurance, which protects your online assets and you/your organizations from liability in the case of data loss or breach, which is important coverage for many professionals. It’s best to discuss your particular business and situation with an ALIGNED Insurance Advocate to determine what to include in your Professional Services Insurance package.
Although Professional Services Insurance can cover many things it is important to note that it does not cover fraudulent, criminal or dishonest acts, guarantees of price or cost or incorrect estimates. It’s also important to note that many professional associations require members to hold Professional Services Insurance in order to gain membership and ALIGNED can provide the required coverage for those.
What Are Some Scenarios Where You Would Benefit From Professional Services Insurance?
There are a variety of situations that may require you to have insurance coverage, many of which you might anticipate and several you may not. Here are some examples of instances where a professional would benefit from coverage:
- As an IT consultant, you recommend a system for a client that doesn’t work with a software they rely on. When implemented, the system crashes, causing the business to be offline for three weeks. They sue you for financial losses associated with the down time citing bad advice and negligence in your due diligence.
- An advertisement you craft for a client bashes a competitor in a way that prompts the other business to sue for defamation. Your client in turn sues you for costs.
- A product marketing strategy you develop for a medical company contains a material error based on your lack of understanding of the science behind the market and it’s appropriate target market which is not found until after the campaign is launched. The company sues you for damages associated with lost revenue.
Find The Right Professional Services Insurance From ALIGNED
ALIGNED works with 70+ of Canada’s top insurance companies to provide custom insurance packages at affordable prices. Click Here To Get A Quote or contact one of our business insurance experts for information or with any questions you may have.
