Professional Lines Insurance in New York
In the business world, everyone does their best to provide exceptional services. However, sometimes mistakes happen; it is, after all, human nature. But, customers and clients may not always see it that way, landing you with lawsuits and claims up to your ears.
However, there is a way to protect yourself and your firm from these claims and the financial costs they bring by investing in professional liability insurance. If you are interested in professional liability policy and insurance, contact us now, we are ready to guide you.
What Is Professional Liability Insurance?
Professional liability insurance, sometimes called errors and omissions insurance (E&O), covers you and your company in the event that you make an error in the professional services you render to a client. Mistakes can always happen no matter how careful you are with your work. However, if your customer or client believes this error caused them financial loss, they can and often do sue you. In these cases, professional liability insurance is what you will need.
What Is Professional Liability?
Professional liability is the risk that an individual or business could be sued for causing damages to another company or person as a result of their work. For example, suppose you, as a florist, agreed to have flowers delivered to your client’s wedding venue on a Friday but only showed up on Saturday afternoon after the wedding. Or perhaps, as an accountant, you made a clerical error that cost your client a tidy sum. In these cases, you could be sued for personal liability.
What Does Professional Liability Insurance Cover?
A professional liabilities insurance policy helps cover claims relating to:
- Inaccurate/incorrect advice – Inaccurate advice that leads to client damages
- Negligence – Services that you or your company provided that resulted in client damages
- Misrepresentation – The providing of a false or misleading account leading to client damages
- Personal injury such as slander or libel – claims of libel or slander, be they true or not
- Copyright infringement – mistakes or oversights made relating to copyright laws
Keep in mind that your clients can still sue you or your business if they think you have made a mistake, even if you have done nothing wrong. As a result, those without a professional liability policy will have to pay out of pocket for these and other aspects PLI policies cover, like legal defense costs and, if necessary, temporary staff or contractors.
What Professional Liability Insurance Doesn’t Cover?
Unfortunately, a professional liability policy won’t cover every claim against you or your business. As a result, professional liability insurance does not cover allegations regarding instances relating to:
- Bodily injury or property damage – This type of claim is typically covered by a general liability insurance policy that protects you or your company if your business injured someone or caused damage to their property.
- Work-related injuries or illnesses – Should your employees become ill or injured as a result of their jobs, you’ll need a worker’s compensation policy to cover their salaries and medical fees until they can return to work.
Data breach/ Cyber liability policy: In the instance that your business loses personally identifiable information (PII), a data breach insurance policy can help you respond to the incident by covering the costs involved. Another term for this type of policy is cyber liability insurance.
Who Should Get a Professional Liability Policy?
Whether you have recently launched your business or are well established, you own a large enterprise, or a small business; we recommend investing in professional liability insurance. Further, a range of companies and industries could benefit from having a professional liability policy, including: