FAQs

Generally, pure breach-of-contract claims are excluded from E&O — they’re considered contractual liability, not professional negligence. However, the same set of facts often gives rise to both a breach-of-contract claim and a professional negligence claim (the client argues you failed to perform the contract AND that the failure was due to negligence). When the complaint pleads negligence alongside contract claims, E&O typically responds at least

Tail coverage — formally called the Extended Reporting Period (ERP) — extends the time during which claims can be reported under a claims-made policy after the policy ends. You typically need tail coverage when: you retire and discontinue practice, you sell or close the business, you switch to a different carrier without retroactive-date continuity, or you convert from claims-made to occurrence (rare). Tail coverage is purchased once, at

E&O is written on a claims-made basis, which means coverage responds to claims first made against you during the policy period — even if the work happened years earlier — as long as the work occurred after the policy’s retroactive date. By contrast, occurrence-based policies (which is how GL is usually written) respond based on when the injury occurred, regardless of when the claim

For most professions, E&O is not state-mandated — it’s required by client contracts, professional licensing bodies, or industry standards rather than by law. Exceptions where law or regulation effectively mandates it: registered investment advisors and broker-dealers (SEC/FINRA expectations), title agents under state title-insurance regulations, and several professional categories where the state licensing board requires proof of E&O for license renewal. Real estate

General liability (GL) covers bodily injury and property damage caused to third parties — a client tripping in your office, a delivery vehicle damaging a client’s loading dock. Errors & omissions (E&O) covers financial harm caused by professional service failures — a missed tax deadline, faulty advice, a botched software implementation, an inaccurate appraisal. Most professional services firms need both. GL doesn’t cover professional mistakes; E&O

Major retailers (Amazon, Target, Walmart, Costco, Whole Foods, and most others) typically require sellers to maintain product liability insurance with $1M minimum limits ($2M aggregate is common), name the retailer as additional insured, and provide a current certificate of insurance. Some retailers require higher limits ($2M–$5M) for higher-volume sellers or higher-risk product categories. Amazon specifically requires coverage to begin once you

Usually not. Standard commercial property policies cover external causes of loss — fire, theft, vandalism, weather — but exclude internal mechanical or electrical breakdown of equipment. Equipment breakdown insurance (also called boiler & machinery) fills this gap and covers things like refrigeration system failures, electrical short-circuits damaging production equipment, computer-control system failures, and HVAC breakdowns. For any manufacturer dependent on specific

Workers’ comp premium is calculated as payroll × class code rate × experience modifier. Class codes vary dramatically by manufacturing type: · Light assembly / packaging: $0.50–$1.50 per $100 of payroll · Food manufacturing: $1.50–$5.00 per $100 · Metal fabrication: $4.00–$12.00 per $100 · Heavy machinery / structural steel: $8.00–$15.00+ per $100 For a small manufacturer with $400,000 in payroll, that translates to anywhere from $2,000 (light

No. Product liability pays for the harm a product causes (medical bills, property damage, settlements). Recall coverage pays for the cost of the recall itself — notification, retrieval, transportation, disposal, replacement, and the often-substantial expense of determining what was sold to whom. The two coverages are distinct and typically need to be purchased separately. Recall is critical for food, beverage,

General liability covers third-party bodily injury and property damage arising from your premises and operations — a customer slipping in your showroom, a delivery truck damaging a client’s loading dock. Product liability covers harm caused by your products after they leave your facility and are in use — a consumer injured by a defective product, a contractor whose project failed because of a