Commercial · industry practice
Professional services.
Lawyers, accountants, consultants, architects, engineers, IT services. E&O is the centerpiece — your work product is what gets sued.
What it is.
Lawyers, accountants, consultants, architects, engineers, IT services. Your work product is your liability. E&O is the centerpiece — but most professional services also need cyber (client data exposure), EPLI (employee claims), and a thoughtfully-tuned BOP. Continuous coverage on E&O is non-negotiable; lapse it once and lose all your prior work.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
CPA prepares return with calculation error. IRS assesses $48K in penalties + interest. Client demands the firm cover it. E&O pays $48K + $14K defense. Without coverage, the firm pays personally — and these are firm-killing claims at small practices.
Architecture firm's design specifies inadequate structural element. Discovered 3 years post-construction during routine maintenance. Defense + settlement: $340K. E&O with continuous coverage and proper retro date pays in full.
IT services firm's misconfiguration of client cloud exposes data. Cyber + tech E&O respond — breach response, client notification, defense against client claim. Total $180K. Single firm without integrated coverage would have had gaps.
How to read a professional services policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
What's continuous coverage and why does it matter?
Claims-made E&O covers claims first made during the policy period for work done after the retroactive date. Lapsing the policy strands all prior work — claims that arrive after the lapse are uncovered. Continuous coverage from the firm's start is non-negotiable.
Do I need separate cyber if my E&O includes it?
Depends on the form. Bundled cyber is usually adequate for small firms; large firms with significant client data often want standalone cyber for higher limits and broader coverage. We compare both at every renewal.
What's tail coverage and when do I need it?
Tail (extended reporting period) covers claims reported after policy expiration for work done during the policy period. Buy it at retirement, sale, or when switching to a non-claims-made structure. Cost: 100-300% of last annual premium for 1-3 years.
How is healthcare malpractice different from E&O?
Same coverage concept (economic harm from professional services), different specialty market with different rating, different forms, different defense networks. We refer healthcare malpractice out to specialty brokers.
Want a second read on your professional services policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
We're an independent broker. We represent you, not the carrier , paid by the carrier we ultimately place with, but accountable only to the person whose name is on the policy. Read more about how we work.