Professional liability
Cover for the advice, design and judgement a business sells
When a client says the work was wrong and it cost them money, the claim lands on the firm that did the work. Professional liability — errors and omissions — responds to that. Total Risk Managers looks at professional liability risks for licensed brokers across Canada, including the technical classes standard markets find hard to place.
Technical classes
Engineering, energy, transport and other specialist professions
Firms and individuals
From sole practitioners to established consultancies
Broker only
Submissions reach us through a licensed broker
Appetite
What we look at
These are the professions and sectors to send us:
- Oil and Gas
- Scientific
- Mining process
- Chemical
- Transportation (Railroad)
- Marine (Design)
- Aviation
- Defense (Weaponry)
- Architects
- Broad Professional Liability Insurance coverage for both the practice and project specific policies
- Civil / Mechanical / Electrical / Chemical
- Technologists / Technicians
- Forensic
- Project & Construction Management
- Landscape, Interior Design
- Hydrologists
- Industrial Process
- Other PI
- Actuaries
- Accountants
- Lawyers
- Adjusters
- Non mainstream Companies (Misc)
A profession not listed here is not a decline. Send the details and we will tell you.
Features
What a placement can include
Features available on a professional liability placement include:
- Cost in Addition / Cost Inclusive
- Errors & Omissions
- Commercial General Liability
- Office Contents Package
- D&O, EPL Provided
- Worldwide Coverage. First dollar defence
- Disciplinary action / Occupational Health & Safety extensions
How it works
How professional liability is usually insured
What applies to any one risk depends on the policy issued and the risk itself.
Claims-made basis
The policy in force when the claim is made responds, not the one in force when the work was done. This single fact shapes everything else in the class.
Retroactive date
How far back the cover reaches for past work. Continuity matters, which is why the current policy’s retroactive date belongs in every submission.
Defence costs
Defending a claim can cost as much as paying one. How defence costs sit against the limit is a defining feature of any wording.
Errors and omissions
Responds to financial loss a client suffers from the firm’s work — the mistake, the missed step, the design that did not perform.
Contract requirements
Many clients require proof of professional liability at set limits before work starts. The contract wording often drives what must be placed.
Run-off
Cover for claims that arrive after a firm stops trading or a practitioner retires — the tail the claims-made basis leaves behind.
Before you send
What to include in a professional liability submission
A submission that answers these upfront can be quoted without us coming back to ask.
The firm and the work
What the business actually does, the split between activities, and the sectors its clients sit in. In the technical classes, the detail of the work is the underwriting.
Size
Revenues for the last full year, staff count, and the qualifications of the principals.
Contracts and clients
Typical contract values, the largest recent projects, whether standard-form contracts are used, and any contractual insurance requirements.
History
Claims and circumstances in the last five years, what happened, and what changed afterwards.
Current coverage
Present limits and deductible, the retroactive date, and the renewal date. Continuity under a claims-made form depends on these.
Common questions
Questions brokers ask about professional liability
What is the difference between professional liability and general liability?
General liability responds to bodily injury and property damage — someone hurt, something broken. Professional liability responds to financial loss caused by the work itself: the wrong advice, the design error, the missed deadline that cost the client money.
A firm that sells expertise generally needs both, because neither policy does the other’s job.
What does claims-made actually mean for a client?
It means the policy in force when the claim arrives is the one that responds — even if the work was done years earlier. So letting cover lapse, or moving without matching the retroactive date, can leave past work uninsured.
That is why continuity questions sit at the centre of every professional liability placement.
Why do technical professions struggle to find cover?
Because the loss potential is hard to price. A design error in an energy, marine or aviation context can produce a claim far larger than the fee that was charged for the work, and many markets simply stay away from those classes.
Those are exactly the risks worth sending rather than assuming they cannot be placed.
What if the profession is not on the list?
Send it anyway. Appetite lists describe where a market concentrates, not the outer edge of what it will consider. A clear description of the work is worth more than the label of the profession.
Who can approach Total Risk Managers about a professional liability risk?
Licensed insurance brokers. Total Risk Managers is a Managing General Agent, which means we work through brokers rather than dealing with the public. If you run a firm and are looking for cover, speak to a licensed broker, who can then approach us.
Have a professional liability risk to place?
Email the details to submissions@totalriskmanagers.com and we will come back to you. Submissions are accepted from licensed insurance brokers.
This page describes coverage in general terms. Cover, limits and conditions vary by policy and by risk. Nothing here changes or replaces the wording of an issued policy. Coverage is arranged through a licensed insurance broker. If you are a broker, contact us. If you are not, please speak to your broker.