Errors & Omissions / Professional Liability Insurance
Coverage for professionals, consultants, service firms, and specialty businesses facing claims involving mistakes, missed deadlines, negligence, bad advice, contract disputes, or failure to deliver professional services.
Specialty Markets
Start With The Intake Form
The form gives us the detail needed to build a stronger Professional Liability / E&O submission.
What Is E&O / Professional Liability?
Coverage that responds when professional advice, services, or work product leads to a client's financial loss.
Errors and Omissions Insurance — also called Professional Liability, Professional Indemnity, or Malpractice Insurance depending on the profession — protects businesses and individuals that provide professional services or advice.
Unlike general liability, which responds to bodily injury and property damage, E&O responds to financial harm caused by an actual or alleged mistake, oversight, missed deadline, breach of professional duty, or failure to perform.
E&O policies typically pay defense costs, settlements, and judgments up to policy limits. A properly structured policy responds whether or not the underlying claim has merit.
What E&O / Professional Liability Covers
This is not general liability. E&O responds when your professional work, advice, service, or failure to act allegedly causes financial harm to someone else.
Claims alleging your service failed to meet the expected professional standard of care.
Oversights, wrong recommendations, incorrect work product, missed details, or bad professional judgment.
Claims tied to late delivery, failure to meet contractual timing, or missed filing / project dates.
Attorney fees, expert witnesses, court costs, and claim defense expenses, even when the claim is weak.
Allegations that your company failed to perform the services promised in a professional agreement.
Disputes involving advice, consulting, project management, design, inspection, media, technology, finance, and specialty service work.
E&O vs General Liability — The Critical Distinction
The most important coverage distinction every professional services firm needs to understand. The two policies respond to fundamentally different claim types — and most accounts need both.
Errors & Omissions / Professional Liability
Responds to claims of financial harm caused by your professional services — advice, recommendations, work product, missed deadlines, breach of professional duty.
- Negligence in professional services
- Errors, omissions, missed deadlines
- Bad advice or recommendations
- Breach of professional duty
- Failure to deliver services
- Most policies written claims-made
Commercial General Liability
Responds to claims of bodily injury and property damage caused by an occurrence — slip and falls, accidents, completed operations, products liability. Typically excludes professional services entirely.
- Bodily injury claims
- Property damage occurrences
- Premises and operations
- Completed operations
- Personal and advertising injury
- Typically written occurrence form
Real Claim Scenarios Across Professions
How E&O claims actually develop in practice — across the professions KIG writes most often. Each scenario is the kind of event a properly structured Professional Liability policy is built to respond to.
Insurance Agent & Broker
Failure to Procure Coverage
An agent failed to bind requested flood coverage before a client's loss. The client pursued the agency for the uninsured loss amount and resulting damages after the carrier denied the claim due to no policy in force.
Attorney Malpractice
Missed Statute of Limitations
A personal injury attorney missed the statute of limitations on a client's claim due to a calendaring error. The underlying case was barred. The client pursued the firm for the value of the lost claim.
Real Estate Agent
Undisclosed Property Defect
A buyer alleged the listing agent failed to disclose a known foundation issue. Post-closing inspection confirmed the defect. The buyer pursued the agent for remediation costs and diminished property value.
Technology / SaaS
Project Delivery Failure
A SaaS implementation missed contracted go-live milestones and failed to meet performance specifications. The client pursued the technology firm for project costs, lost revenue, and replacement vendor expense.
Contractors Professional Liability
Value Engineering Failure
A general contractor recommended a value engineering substitution for an HVAC system. The substitute system did not perform as expected post-occupancy. The owner pursued the contractor for remediation and energy cost differential.
Consultant E&O
Flawed Strategic Recommendation
A management consultant recommended a market expansion strategy that produced significant client losses. The client pursued the consultant for recovery of consulting fees and the financial loss tied to acting on the recommendation.
Claims-Made vs Occurrence — Why It Matters
The single most important structural feature of an E&O policy. The form determines whether older work stays covered, what happens when you switch carriers, and how exposure carries forward over time.
Claims-Made Policy
Responds to claims first reported during the policy period — provided the work occurred after the retroactive date. The trigger is when the claim is made, not when the work was performed.
Most E&O policies are written claims-made because professional services exposures can surface years after the original work. The structure lets carriers price and reserve more accurately.
Occurrence Policy
Responds to claims arising from events that happened during the policy period — regardless of when the claim is reported. The trigger is when the underlying event occurred.
Most General Liability policies are written occurrence. E&O coverage is rarely written this way because exposure tails are too long for carriers to price effectively.
Retroactive Date · The Most Important Date on Your Policy
The retroactive date is the earliest date your claims-made policy will respond to work performed. Work done before the retro date is not covered, even if the claim is reported during the policy period. Preserving an older retroactive date when you switch carriers is critical — it's how you maintain coverage for past work. Losing the retro date is one of the most expensive mistakes in professional liability.
Do The Intake First
E&O underwriting lives on details. Services, contracts, revenue, prior claims, client types, requested limits, and risk controls all matter. The intake form gives us what we need to build a stronger submission.
Complete The Intake Form NowE&O By Profession & Industry
Professional Liability changes by class of business. A consultant does not need the same structure as a technology firm, property manager, architect, insurance agency, attorney, or film producer.
Advisory & Financial Professions
Legal & Healthcare Professions
Real Estate & Property Professions
Technology, Media & Specialty Professions
Design, Engineering & Construction Professions
Why Specialty Markets Matter
Standard carriers decline professional services risks every day. Prior claims, unusual operations, new ventures, hybrid services, contract requirements, or hard-to-classify work can push an account into specialty underwriting fast.
KIG works on unusual professional liability risks that many standard agencies do not want to touch.
A strong narrative matters. Carriers need to understand what you do, who you serve, and where the professional exposure actually sits.
Some accounts fit standard admitted markets. Others need surplus lines, specialty programs, or manuscript underwriting.
Retroactive dates, prior acts, defense inside limits, consent-to-settle wording, exclusions, and contract requirements all matter.
Key E&O Terms — Quick Glossary
The vocabulary of Professional Liability matters. These five terms appear in nearly every E&O policy and determine how the coverage actually performs at claim time.
Claims-Made Policy
Dominant Form for E&OA policy that responds when a claim is first reported during the policy period, provided the work occurred after the retroactive date. The opposite of an occurrence form. Most Professional Liability is written this way.
Retroactive Date
aka Retro DateThe earliest date your claims-made policy responds to work performed. Work done before the retro date is excluded. Preserving the retro date when switching carriers is essential to maintain coverage for prior work.
Tail Coverage
aka Extended Reporting Period (ERP)Extends the time you can report claims after a claims-made policy expires. Critical when switching carriers, retiring, dissolving a firm, or selling a business. Available as a one-time purchase from the expiring carrier.
Defense Inside the Limits
aka Eroding LimitsDefense costs reduce the amount available for settlement or judgment. A $1M policy that spends $300K on defense leaves $700K for the underlying claim. "Defense outside the limits" is more protective but typically costs more.
Prior Acts Coverage
Linked to Retroactive DateCoverage for work performed before the current policy began, going back to the retroactive date. Without prior acts coverage, only work performed during the current policy period is covered — a major gap on long-tail exposures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common E&O and Professional Liability questions from business owners, consultants, and specialty service providers.
Is E&O the same as Professional Liability?
In most practical insurance conversations, yes. The terminology changes by industry — lawyers call it malpractice, doctors call it med-mal, designers call it E&O — but all refer to coverage for professional mistakes, negligence, or service-related financial loss.
Does General Liability cover professional mistakes?
Usually no. General Liability is mainly for bodily injury, property damage, and certain personal and advertising injury claims. Professional mistakes — bad advice, missed deadlines, faulty work product, breach of duty — generally require E&O. Most GL policies explicitly exclude professional services.
Why do I need to complete the intake form?
Professional Liability underwriting depends on details. Services performed, contracts in place, revenue, prior claims, client types, risk controls, and requested limits all affect market appetite. A complete intake form is what lets us approach the right markets without wasting time.
Can KIG help if I was declined?
Possibly. Declines are common in E&O. The key is understanding why the account was declined and whether a better-positioned submission can reach the right specialty market. KIG works admitted, surplus lines, and specialty programs — markets that often write what generalists won't.
What is a claims-made policy?
A claims-made policy responds to claims first reported during the policy period — provided the work that triggered the claim occurred after the retroactive date. Most E&O policies are written claims-made because professional services exposures can surface years after the work was performed.
What is a retroactive date and why does it matter?
The retroactive date is the earliest date your claims-made policy will respond to work performed. Work done before the retro date is not covered, even if the claim is reported during the policy period. Preserving an older retroactive date when switching carriers is critical — it's how you maintain coverage for past work.
What is tail coverage?
Also called an Extended Reporting Period (ERP), tail coverage extends the time you can report claims after a claims-made policy expires. Essential when changing carriers, retiring, dissolving a firm, or selling a business. Without tail coverage, claims reported after the policy ends are not covered even if the underlying work happened during the policy period.
What does defense inside the limits mean?
Defense inside the limits means attorney fees and legal defense costs erode the policy limit. A $1M policy that spends $300K on defense leaves only $700K for settlement or judgment. Defense outside the limits is more protective — defense is paid separately and does not reduce coverage available for the underlying claim.
How do E&O premiums get priced?
Carriers price E&O based on revenue, services performed, client mix, geography, claims history, requested limits, deductible, retroactive date, and risk controls. Specialty markets price differently than admitted carriers. The same account can see very different premiums depending on how the submission is structured and which carriers it's shown to.
Does E&O cover intentional acts or fraud?
No. E&O policies universally exclude criminal acts, fraud, intentional wrongdoing, and dishonest acts. Coverage is designed for honest mistakes, negligence, and bad judgment — not for deliberate misconduct. Defense costs for these allegations may be advanced in some forms and recouped if conduct is later proven intentional.
Does E&O cover bodily injury or property damage?
No. Bodily injury and property damage are covered by General Liability, not E&O. Many professionals carry both: GL for premises and operations exposures, E&O for professional services exposures. A single claim may trigger both policies if alleged harm involves both physical injury and professional negligence.
Why use a specialty E&O broker?
E&O policy forms vary enormously between carriers. Retroactive dates, exclusions, defense provisions, consent-to-settle wording, sublimits, and contract requirements all differ. A specialty broker compares forms across multiple markets — including E&S carriers and specialty programs — instead of fitting your account into whatever policy a generalist agent happens to write.
Ready? Complete The Form.
This is the cleanest next step. Give us the details once, and let us turn it into an actual Professional Liability / E&O submission.
Go To The Intake Form