As a business consultant, your skills and expertise are used to help other businesses achieve greater performance, be it in solving existing problems, or in the development of plans for advancement of their business towards desired goals. But in the course of your job, the businesses you are consulting with are relying on improvements. Many times consultants will get blamed for performance issues, outcomes, or damages that are not entirely related to what they have done, but rather the businesses’ own actions. Along with other possible risks related to the business consultant industry, it’s wise to protect yourself against valid and invalid claims or lawsuits against you with the proper business consultant insurance coverages.
Business Consultant Insurance That We Recommend You Consider:
- Errors and Omissions (E&O) – We recommend purchasing an Errors and Omissions policy because the primary service that a consultant provides to their clients is advice. If a client then follows the advice of the consultant and makes some business decisions that they feel have cost their business money or clientele and makes a claim based solely on that advice then a Business Owners policy will not extend coverage to that type of a claim. Errors & Omissions coverage will specifically cover the professional services exposure of a business and will respond to claims made on the rendering of professional services to clients. It is an invaluable coverage to have for a professional such as a consultant who is advising clients to make decisions that will influence the success or failure of their business operations.
- A Business Owners Policy (BOP) will protect your business by providing liability coverage that would extend to a 3rd party venue that may be used to set up meetings and seminars with clients. An example is if the consultant arranges a meeting at a Hotel and while attending the meeting a prospective client trips and falls and sustains bodily injury or damages a personal computer and then makes a claim against the hotel for damages. The Business Owners policy would provide coverage and protect the consultant if the Hotel is sued and then the hotel makes a suit against the consultant who set up the meeting by alleging that they brought the injured party to their hotel by setting up this meeting. Liability coverage would also follow the consultant to a client’s home or office if a meeting takes place there and the client sustains a physical injury or damage to their personal property. Also, the property portion of the Business Owners policy will cover any losses to the consultant’s personal property that may occur during the policy period up to the limit of insurance on the declarations minus the deductible.
Business Consultant Insurance Summary
It is difficult in today’s economy to pay for insurance coverage vs. essential things like lodging, food, clothing, family, and business expenses, but the Business Owners policy can provide peace of mind to a consultant who must travel to meet clients at various locations and must always be aware that a potential claim that results in bodily injury and/or property damage can occur at any time. Consultants usually speak to fairly large audiences and deal with lots of clients and potential clients and that increases the number of potential claimants so a Business Owners policy is an essential coverage for them. Errors and Omissions coverage is slightly more expensive then a Business Owners policy, but the protection that it provides to them is invaluable. A client can make a business decision that causes them to lose a great deal of money and then look to place the blame squarely on the advisement of the consultant and the Errors & Omissions policy will respond to cover the expense of a claim and/or the legal fees necessary to defend against the allegation of a claim.
