Paige Cerulli Last Updated On: July 18, 2024

Home / Small Business / Errors and Omissions Insurance

Insurance for Errors and Omissions?

Errors and omissions insurance is also called E&O insurance or professional liability insurance. Professional E&O insurance helps protect your business against claims that you made a mistake in your services or otherwise didn’t deliver the services you had agreed to provide. Your E&O insurance policy helps protect you from lawsuits and related expenses.

Table of Contents

What Does Professional Errors and Omissions Insurance Cover?

Errors & omissions coverage helps protect your business from claims of:

  • Errors and mistakes
  • Bad advice
  • Missed deadlines
  • Failure to deliver the service promised
  • Failure to meet the terms of your contract

E&O insurance coverage can help cover expenses related to these claims, which might include:

  • Legal fees and court costs
  • Attorney fees
  • Administrative costs related to your court case
  • Settlements and judgments

For example, let’s say that your tax preparation agency makes an error on a business account, and the business has to pay a tax penalty because of that error. If the business sues your agency, your errors and omissions insurance policy would help to cover costs related to that lawsuit. If your agency needs to pay a settlement or judgment, your insurance would also help to cover that expense, up to your policy limit.

What Doesn’t Errors and Omissions Insurance Cover?

While the specific exclusions will depend on your policy, most E&O insurance policies won’t cover:
  • Fraud
  • Bodily injury or property damage expenses
  • Worker injuries
  • Data breaches and data theft
  • Intellectual property violations
General business policies offer coverage for these types of situations, so carefully read your E&O insurance policy and consider purchasing additional small business insurance for more comprehensive protection.

Do You Need EO insurance Coverage?

E&O policies are often designed to protect certain types of businesses, like real estate agents, attorneys, writers, marketers, and pet sitters. Generally speaking, if your business provides some sort of service to your customers, then buying an e and o insurance policy is a good idea. Some states require businesses to have E&O insurance while buying a policy is optional in other states.

Even if your state doesn’t require your business to carry errors ommissions insurance, remember that a single lawsuit can cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, alone. Having E&O insurance can help protect you and the business that you’ve worked hard to build.

How to Get Affordable E&O Insurance

E&O insurance costs will depend on the type of business you have, your business size, your location, your income, your coverage limits, and other factors. In most cases, errors and omissions insurance is pretty affordable, and you’ll also have the peace of mind of knowing that you’re protecting your business in case you or an employee ever make a mistake.

Getting a quote will give you the most accurate idea of your insurance cost. You can get a free, personalized errors and omissions insurance quote today and start exploring your business insurance options.

Paige Cerulli Paige Cerulli is a freelance content writer and journalist who specializes in personal finance topics. She graduated from Westfield State University and brings more than a decade of professional writing experience to the ConsumerCoverage team. Paige’s work has appeared in outlets including USA Today, Business Insider, and more.

INSURANCE QUOTES

Stay Up-to-Date
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive alerts, offers, education, and updates in your inbox.