Errors and Omissions (E&O) Liability Insurance | Aon (2024)

Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance

Learn how your organization can benefit from errors and omissions liability insurance.

What is Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance?

Errors and omissions (E&O) liability insurance (also known as professional liability and sometimes professional indemnity) is a client-facing liability risk impacting service providers. The level of risk and exposure depends on the nature of the work, the type of client and the location of the activity. Importantly, the risk generally still exists despite applying all available risk control strategies – and requires specialized risk financing treatment.

Why is E&O Liability Important?

Unless systemic issues exist in the business, the risk is generally characterized by low frequency and high severity/impact. This means that while the risk can potentially create a material financial impact on a business, prior experience with the risk is often limited, and actionable information to guide risk management and financing decision-making is difficult to obtain (and of great value).

For regulated service providers and particularly professional service firms, the risk is elevated and of paramount importance – having the potential to create severe financial impact and reputational damage. For law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms and design/construction firms, managing and insuring their exposures is a key way to protect their reputation and revenue.

    Explore More Risk Transfer Offerings
    • Financial Lines and Professional Services
    • Credit Solutions
    • Employment Practices Liability Insurance

    How Aon Can Help

    • Insurance Broking

      We tailor coverage and arrange insurance around a business’ specific needs – and across all types of errors and omissions liability risk (and when coverage needs to be blended with other insurance lines). Our reputation and access to markets give us the ability to manuscript policies with broad policy terms and conditions. This also enables us to advocate for our clients in the claims process and look to obtain the optimal outcome.

    • Claims Advocacy and Resolution

      While many insurance claims move efficiently to a full and final settlement, there are some instances where additional strategic and technical knowledge is needed to ensure a fair resolution for clients. This is especially true when claims are complex or include significant financial losses that might be hard to value. At Aon, our claims advocates are able to escalate claims to decision-makers and relevant stakeholders and leverage their experience to drive toward swift and fair resolutions.

      We bring specialist experience to all aspects of the claims process, including the selection of adjusters, partnerships with law firms, and formal escalation protocols with insurers.


    • Loss Prevention (for Law Firms)

      Identifying and avoiding or minimizing liability and professional responsibility risks is critical to law firms. Even where allegations against a firm are found to be groundless, or the amount involved is relatively insubstantial, a firm’s or lawyer’s reputation may be compromised, or a client relationship jeopardized. Aon has dedicated loss prevention specialists for law firms in the US and UK. Our team includes former partners in large law firms with years of experience in loss prevention, legal ethics, and professional liability law.

    • Actuarial Risk Analysis

      Our actuaries work with firms to understand and satisfy their risk modeling and loss forecasting needs, providing risk pricing and loss reserving in support of captive insurance financing. The actuarial risk modeling can be used to estimate costs associated with different retentions and limits to help tailor a (re)insurance program to match the loss profile of the business.

    • Benchmarking and Data Analytics

      In an increasingly competitive business environment, it is important to understand the performance of your insurance program. Aon can use its knowledge of the market, available program structures and pricing to provide a wide range of benchmarking analyses and analytics to support better risk management decision-making.

    • Global Compliance

      The regulatory and contractual obligations of service providers are constantly evolving. For global businesses, local regulations and contract requirements differences can put firms at risk of regulatory and contractual breaches. While Aon does not provide legal or regulatory advice, we work with our clients to ensure they have cost-effective compliance measures in place at a local level.

    The information contained on this page and the rest of this website is subject to the terms and conditions found here.

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    FAQs

    What errors and omissions insurance is not likely to cover? ›

    E&O insurance doesn't cover claims for property damage, bodily injury, workplace injuries, data breaches, intellectual property violations, or criminal acts such as fraud.

    Is errors and omissions insurance worth it? ›

    However, it's still a good idea to get this coverage even if it's not required by your state. Without it, you'll have to pay for claims out of pocket. If you or your employees make a mistake on the job, E&O coverage can help pay your legal defense costs.

    What is the limit for errors and omissions? ›

    E&O insurance policies pay for damages and defense costs in connection with allegations of negligence by a third party. Limits of insurance are applicable to the amount of damages and defense costs that an insurance company has to pay. Available policy limits generally vary from $100,000 to $5,000,000.

    What is evidence of errors and omissions insurance? ›

    When your business secures an errors and omissions (E&O) insurance policy, you'll receive a certificate of insurance. This certificate contains key information about your E&O policy and provides proof of insurance to your clients and licensing boards.

    What is typically excluded from an E&O policy? ›

    Dishonest, intentional, or criminal acts. Like most insurance policies, a typical E&O policy for insurance agents excludes dishonest, criminal, fraudulent, or malicious actions.

    What isn't covered under a liability policy? ›

    General liability insurance is generally geared toward third parties and clients, while injuries an employee may suffer on the job should be covered under workers compensation. Injuries that a customer or third party purposefully inflict on themselves will not be covered.

    How much should an E&O policy cost? ›

    How much does errors and omissions insurance cost? The average premium for errors and omissions insurance (E&O, also called professional liability insurance) is about $60 per month. Your exact cost will depend on several factors, including your industry and policy limits.

    What is the main reason for successful E&O claims against agents? ›

    The Top 3 reasons for Errors and Omissions claims against real estate agents are: Misrepresentation. Failure to disclose something which should have been disclosed. Negligence.

    Does E&O insurance cover lawsuits? ›

    E&O insurance protects your business against many risks and lawsuits, but it doesn't cover everything. It won't help if you get sued for: Employment practices, such as wrongful termination or harassment. You'll need employment practices liability insurance to help cover these claims.

    What is the main purpose for errors and omissions insurance E&O? ›

    Errors and omissions insurance, also known as E&O insurance and professional liability insurance, helps protect your business from lawsuits that claim you made a mistake in your professional services. This insurance can help cover your court costs or settlements, which can be very expensive for your business to pay.

    How do you calculate errors and omissions? ›

    The errors and omissions are calculated as the difference between the sum of the current and capital accounts and the financial account in a given period.

    How many insurance agents face an errors and omissions claim each year? ›

    The insurance world has become more complicated than ever, offering coverage for an extensive variety of things. Business Risk Partners, which specializes in underwriting insurance agents' E&O coverage, estimates that around one in four insurance agencies get sued for mistakes every year.

    What does errors and omission insurance not cover? ›

    Errors and omissions insurance covers professional mistakes made by your employees or you, but it does not cover claims made against you as their employer. If a former employee sues you for discrimination or wrongful termination, E&O insurance cannot help you.

    What is an example of errors and omissions liability? ›

    Some errors and omissions claims examples include your: Accountant providing inaccurate financial advice to your clients. As a result, they file a claim against you. Interior designer using the wrong colors to repaint a client's room.

    How do you explain errors and omissions? ›

    Professional Liability insurance, also known as Errors and Omissions (E&O) coverage, is designed to protect your business against claims that professional advice or services you provided caused a customer financial harm due to actual or alleged mistakes or a failure to perform a service.

    Does errors and omissions insurance cover all of the following except? ›

    Typical coverage from E&O insurance includes claims due to all of the following, except? Pollution is not covered under E&O insurance.

    What type of risk are not covered by insurance? ›

    An uninsurable risk is a risk that insurance companies cannot insure (or are reluctant to insure) no matter how much you pay. Common uninsurable risks include: reputational risk, regulatory risk, trade secret risk, political risk, and pandemic risk.

    What are risks that insurance firms will not cover called? ›

    Uninsurable risk is a condition that poses an unknowable or unacceptable risk of loss or a situation in which the insurance would be against the law. Insurance companies limit their losses by not taking on certain risks that are very likely to result in a loss.

    What does errors and omissions insurance provide coverage for? ›

    Otherwise known as Professional Liability Insurance, Errors and Omissions insurance covers defense costs, judgment, settlements and fines or penalties resulting from the allegations of misrepresentation, breach of professional services, wrongful business practices, misleading advice and conflict of interest.

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