Professional Liability Insurance for Consultants (2024)

What Is Professional Liability Insurance for Consultants?

As a consultant, you have an important job. At The Hartford, we’re here to help protect it. We offer the kind of coverages you need to stay successful in your career. In your line of work, One of the most important things to have is professional liability insurance. This will help keep you protected in the professional services you provide.

Consultants work hard for their clients, helping companies achieve their business goals. However, during this process, clients may become dissatisfied with their consultant’s performance, resulting in a lawsuit. That’s why having business insurance is so important. Professional liability insurance, also called errors and omissions insurance, can help cover claims of:

• Errors
• Omissions
• Negligence
• Misrepresentation
• Inaccurate advice

Without professional liability insurance for consultants, you and your business’ assets can be at risk. Consultant insurance is a small expense that can go a long way in helping protect you while providing services to your clients.

Do Consultants Need Liability Insurance?

If you provide services directly to customers, you should add professional liability insurance coverage to yourbusiness consultant insurance plan. If someone sues your business and claims you made a mistake in the services provided, without coverage, you’d have to pay legal costs out of pocket.

For example, you’re working with a company trying to grow its operations. The strategies you propose don’t work and the company takes a big loss. As a result, they sue your consulting business. Professional liability insurance can help cover your legal fees and costs to defend your business. It can also help pay for settlements and judgments awarded with the lawsuit.

Different types of consultants can benefit from consultant liability insurance, such as:

• Business and management
• Business communications
• Market research
• Media
• Public relations and crisis management
• Business and leadership coaching
• Career coaching
• Corporate training
• Economic research
• Expense savings
• Human resource
• Organization structure
• Wedding

No matter how many years of experience you may have as a consultant, mistakes can still happen. This means you face a liability risk at any moment of your workday. Giving the wrong advice can cost clients a lot of money and they can sue you for a mistake. That’s why it’s essential to have professional liability insurance to help protect your business.

Risks That Consultants Face by Not Having Professional Liability Insurance

Consultants face many day-to-day risks, but not having professional liability insurance adds an additional risk of lawsuits. Without coverage, you can face expensive:

• Attorney fees
• Court costs
• Defense expenses

There are many professional liability risks you face as a consultant. These examples show some of the common ones we cover:

Giving bad advice to a client that results in them losing money. For example, if you try to help a client increase their sales but your plan causes them to lose revenue, they can sue you.

Not completing a job according to the agreed upon terms. Let's say you own a market research firm. You give your client advice based on research your firm conducted, but it causes them to lose money. Your client sues you after finding out the research was flawed.

Forgetting something in the services you provide. If you forgot to do a job that your client expected, they can sue your business.

Professional Liability Insurance Cost for Consultants

Every consulting firm is unique, soprofessional liability insurance costs can vary. Insurance companies look at different factors to determine your business’ costs, such as your:

• Claims history, because having a clean history can lower your insurance rate.
• Type of business, because some industries face more risks than others.
• Coverage limits, since a higher limit can increase your policy cost.
• Experience, because you’re less likely to make a mistake if you’ve been in business longer.

Each of these factors affect businesses differently. The best way to find out your professional liability insurance cost is to get a professional liability insurance quote.

Protect Your Business With Consultant Liability Insurance From The Hartford

We offer professional liability coverage for consultants that can help protect you from claims that could cost you your business. We’re an insurance company with over 200 years of experience, so we understand that every business faces unique challenges. We’ve helped over 1 million small business owners get the protection they need, and our specialists are here to do the same for you.