Professional liability insurance for business is a type of insurance that shields the business owners and higher professionals of an organization from the claims of negligence made by their customers or clients. It also serves the insurers with the provision of financial coverage and protection from copyright infringement and physical injuries.
Professional liability insurance for business is sometimes referred to as professional indemnity insurance and also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance as it preserves the reputation of higher authorities of your firm if, somehow, they make a mistake whilst serving their customers or clients that may have put the integrity of your firm at stake. Because business owners are also humans and it is possible that they mistakenly or unwillingly make decisions that do not prove to be in the interests of their organization, therefore, this type of insurance is paramount to signing up to prevent the unwanted consequences of such omissions.
Why Should You Opt for Professional Liability Insurance (PLI)?
If you’re running a business that offers the following services to your customers, out of many others, you should go for professional liability insurance for counselors:
- A professional service
- Contractual services to the clients
- Regular professional guidance or advice
For your better understanding, the typical example quoted here is of a healthcare professional, such as a physiotherapist. For instance, if any of your patients claims tissue damage through availing your medical services, this insurance plan will step forward to protect your reputability from him/her suing you with such allegations and avoids the possibility of unexpected dangers of lawsuits.
Who Should Get an E&O Insurance?
If you’ve started a venture or your business is a rising brand name or you’re already a prominent tag in the world of trading, you should invest in purchasing professional liability insurance for business. Spas and salons, career and business mentors, healthcare professionals and coaches, management or business consultants, real estate consultants, information technology (IT) experts, architect firms, and brokers are some common examples of who should get E&O insurance.
Types of Professional Liability Insurance
The types of professional liability insurance for business vary depending on the collaboration between your trading expertise and the relevant industry. But there are only these basic two types according to which further sub-branches arise.
- Claims-made PLI refers to the prior activation of the policies at the time of occurrence of a lawsuit or an unwanted event.
- Occurrence PLI refers to the coverage for any qualified claim resulting from an incident while the policy is active. Read more: D&O insurance cost
How much does Professional Liability Insurance Cost?
The average cost for professional indemnity or liability insurance is $59 per month but the payable amount varies depending on many factors, including:
- Location
- Years of experience
- Number of employees
- Number of unfavorable claims
- Industry or field you’re practicing in
What does Professional Liability Insurance Cover?
If you compare the insurance policies of general liability with professional liability, you’ll find that the former is leaned towards covering the financial costs associated with physical or bodily damages such as the accidental slips or falls of a customer on your commercial property. Professional liability design is more of an abstract type; it provides financial aid and assistance for legal and settlement costs, along with protecting the businesses from the following:
- Contractual Infringement
If an organization claims to provide certain facilities in the hour of need to their clients, and somehow, the agency isn’t capable of keeping its word due to any possible reason such as the decreased number of staff, the customer can sue that company by filing a case of contractual infringement against it.
- Professional Negligence
Professional negligence refers to the failure to meet a standardized set of rules. For instance, an architect is hired by a bank to design its branch or franchise but after some time, let’s say a year, the bank is sued by a customer because of the unalignment of a few designs with the regulations or standards of that particular country. In such a case, the bank could sue the architecture firm for failing to comply with the standardized regulations of the country or area of residence.
- Professional Misconduct
Professional misconduct can occur due to unjustified misconduct of one party to the other. For example, if a professor has created huge differences between a student and his peers by his unjustified treatment, way of teaching, or any possible reason, the student or his parents can sue the educator by filing a claim of professional misconduct against him.
- Unacceptable Errors
Most precisely, this coverage falls under medical malpractice insurance which is a subcategory of professional liability insurance. If a healthcare staff has administered the wrong dosage of medication to a patient, the guardians of that patient can proceed with legal prosecution against that medical personnel or the entire organization.
Other cases for which professional liability finances provide coverage can be undelivered services, missed deadlines, or overseeing the provision of services on time. For more details visit Summit cover.
What Does PLI Not Cover?
Professional indemnity insurance does not cover the costs related to criminal prosecution, employee injuries, lawsuits on employee discrimination, workplace harassment, illegitimate termination, usage of business vehicles, physical damage or bodily injuries, business property damage, and customer injuries or damages.
Professional liability insurance for business provides coverage for startups and other small-scale businesses to safeguard the interests of professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and architects in case they make a professional mistake because no matter how much care you’ve put in right from the start, you cannot always demonstrate and practice professional perfection. That’s why it is essential to secure your name and image by signing up for an appropriate insurance policy in such challenging times.
