Errors & Omissions Insurance Coverage
Errors and Omissions Insurance is specialized liability coverage required by a variety of individuals and companies that provides professional services, such as accounting, engineers, marketing, consultants and IT services. Despite the best intentions of those in these fields, an error or omission in the performance of their services could cause financial type losses to their customers.
Liability arising from losses from a professional service are excluded under the standard Commercial General Liability policy. The legal expenses to defend suits of alleged failure to provide adequate professional services can be significant. Coverage for legal costs for defending these suits is available under an Errors and Omissions policy.
What Is Errors And Omissions Insurance?
Errors and omissions insurance is a form of professional liability insurance that protects business and its employees against legal claims made by clients for inadequate work or negligent actions. E&O insurance helps protect you even if allegations are groundless.
Who Needs Errors And Omissions Insurance?
If you’re a medical professional, lawyer, accountant, architect, engineer, consultant, broker, financial advisor, or any other type of professional practitioner in Ontario, your professional organization requires you to have professional liability insurance.
Claims Made Information
Most E&O policies are written on a “Claims-Made” basis. This means that any claim must be made and/or reported within the policy period in which it occurred. These policies have retroactive dates – a date previous to the policy’s effective date where the alleged claim can be considered. The retroactive date is important as claims that arise out of an act prior to this retroactive date will not be covered by the policy.
Defense Costs Coverage
Some E&O policies also include defense expenses within the limit of liability. This, in essence, limits the amount of insurance that may actually be available to pay a claim. Some policies also exclude punitive damages. It is important to make sure the coverage fits your exposure because the wording on each policy can vary. For more information on this coverage, contact our Morison Insurance commercial brokers. We are here to help.
Mitigation Tips
Some steps you can take to mitigate an errors and omissions loss and to help control your insurance costs are: One, always have a written contract that explains what will be done, what will not be done and the fees. Two, communicate with your customers throughout the job and manage expectations. Three, have a quality control procedure in place and check the results.
Morison Insurance represents several specialized insurance markets that have comprehensive Errors and Omissions Liability coverage for various professional service providers. For more information or to get a quote, contact our insurance professionals by phone or online. We are here to help.
This content is written by our Morison Insurance team. It is provided for general information only. Insurance needs differ from person to person, and this article is therefore not a substitute for professional advice about your individual insurance needs which can be obtained by speaking to one of our brokers.
