Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability insurance coverage can protect you and your business against actual or alleged errors and omissions that may occur while providing your professional services. These claims can include things like giving incorrect advice or omitting a piece of information to failing to deliver your professional service within the required timeframe.

Professional liability insurance coverage may be useful for a range of business types in various industries. Some examples may include:

• engineers or designers sued by clients for misinterpreting renderings or ordering costly materials that can't be used
• project managers sued for project delays and cost overruns after failing to inform clients about necessary sign-offs
• massage therapists sued by a client for purported tissue damage following a massage
• medical billing employees sued for incorrectly coding medical procedures on insurance forms
• public notaries sued for notarizing a document in which not all of the required fields were completed.

The above are just a few of the many scenarios in which a professional liability policy could cover your expenses and relevant damages resulting from a professional negligence claim.

As small business insurance experts, we will guide you through the defense process and provide advice, guidance, and support. When a covered claim is reported, our claims team will professionally and expertly investigate the matter to ensure a fair and efficient resolution. If necessary, we’ll appoint an attorney to represent you in the matter, even if the claim is groundless.

There are many scenarios where defense costs may arise.

• Management consulting: A recommendation is made that turns out poorly, and the consultant is sued for the financial loss. In such a case, our professional liability policy may pay for defense costs and a settlement or judgment.
• Process serving: A process server accidentally serves the wrong person and is sued by the misidentified party for character damage.
• Property management: A claim is made against a property management firm for purportedly denying a rental lease based on a tenant's race, color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin.
• Real estate brokerage: A real estate agent is sued for allegedly failing to disclose a property’s known defects before closing a sale.

Regardless of business type, size, and industry, if your organization is sued you could face significant costs for a legal defense, whether or not you have done anything wrong. This is where our professional liability policy would step in to protect you and your business.

Libel and slander are forms of personal injury with legal ramifications which could negatively affect you and your business. Whether the claims are valid or not, if you or a colleague are purported to have said or written something untrue and negative about another person or business, and it causes them financial harm, you may be sued for personal injury. Alleged libel and slander claims may arise from intentional disparaging of a person or business, an accidental slip-up made in conversational passing, or anything in between. Fortunately, our professional liability insurance coverage can step in to protect you and your business against such claims.

Your business can be sued for any alleged wrong or error committed by any employee representing your brand, including temporary staff and independent contractors. In such a case, we can step in and protect you and your business against these claims.

One such example may arise when a professional photographer hires a temporary assistant to help out with a large-scale job. If the photographer’s assistant is alleged to have been negligent in performing professional services on the photographer’s behalf or have committed an act of libel or slander against a client, professional liability insurance could protect the photographer’s business from unexpected legal expenses.

There are risks involved in hiring temporary staff and independent contractors, but the operational and financial benefits often outweigh them. This is especially true when your business is protected with Hiscox insurance.

Claims can be made against you or your business for work that was completed in the past. At Hiscox, we may be able to cover such a claim that is made during the policy period, even if the alleged wrongful act took place before you were insured with us.

Retroactive coverage can be provided if your business was insured by another carrier on the date that the alleged incident took place. By offering coverage from a ‘retroactive date’ you are protected for professional services you provided in the past, dating back to the active date on a previous policy for claims made during the policy period.

Contact us to learn more about how we may be able to cover a claim for an incident that occurred before you purchased your first professional liability insurance policy with us.

In today’s modern world, business knows no geographic boundaries. Fortunately, if you are insured by Hiscox, your coverage extends worldwide. We cover claims that arise from work performed all around the world, no matter which city, country, or continent you’re working in, provided that any action or legal proceeding giving rise to the claim is filed in the United States, a U.S. territory, or Canada.

Worldwide professional liability insurance coverage is applicable for a range of professions, including:

• architects and engineers sent overseas to design buildings and infrastructure
• consultants and freelancers sent to other countries to implement new strategies and ideas
• global IT and technology professionals working in multiple places to coordinate complex systems
• personal trainers hired to work for high-profile clients who travel frequently
• artistic professionals, such as photographers and videographers, sent to distant lands and far-away places to get the perfect shot for overseas clients.

All of these types of professionals and business owners, as well as hundreds of others, can benefit from having our professional liability insurance, which can cover claims wherever you are in the world.