Insurance for Professional Services Firms
When your product is expertise, the lawsuit you are most likely to face is not a slip and fall. It is a client who says your advice, design, or deliverable cost them money. Professional services firms need a program built around that exposure, with the property and liability basics underneath.
What usually goes wrong
- Claims that advice or work product caused a client financial loss
- Missed deadlines and scope disputes
- Client data exposed in a breach or phishing attack
- Wire fraud through spoofed invoices
- Employee claims as the firm grows
The coverage we typically build
- Professional Liability (E&O)Claims that your advice, work, or service cost a client money. Excluded from every BOP and GL policy.Details
- Cyber LiabilityRansomware, data breaches, and wire fraud. The claim small businesses are now most likely to file.Details
- Business Owners PolicyProperty, liability, and lost income bundled into one policy. The right starting point for most small businesses.Details
- Employment Practices LiabilityWrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims from employees and applicants.Details
The gap we see most
Client contracts often ask for professional liability limits, cyber coverage, and indemnity terms that the firm's policy does not actually match. Nobody notices until a claim. We read the insurance and indemnity sections of your master services agreements and align your coverage to them.
Insurance by trade
Licensing, contract requirements, and the coverage we build for each.
- Insurance for Consultants in Washington and Idaho
Insurance for management, business, marketing, HR, and IT consultants in Washington and Idaho: professional liability (errors and omissions), what client contracts require, claims-made terms and retroactive dates, cyber, and the gaps that catch independent consultants.
- Insurance for Photographers and Videographers in Washington and Idaho
Insurance for wedding, portrait, commercial, and event photographers and videographers: gear coverage that travels, general and professional liability, drone requirements under FAA Part 107, and what venues require.
- Insurance for Accountants, CPAs, and Bookkeepers in Washington and Idaho
Insurance for CPA firms, tax preparers, and bookkeepers in Washington and Idaho: professional liability, cyber and the FTC Safeguards Rule, wire fraud on client funds, and what each state's accountancy laws require.
- Insurance for Law Firms in Washington and Idaho
Insurance for small law firms in Washington and Idaho: Idaho's mandatory $100,000/$300,000 malpractice coverage, Washington's public disclosure rule, cyber and trust account wire fraud, and the rest of a firm's program.
What our clients say
“As a professional services firm, we needed solid professional liability and general liability that would satisfy client contract requirements. Trella took the time to understand our exposure, compared options across their carrier panel, and delivered a tailored commercial program without the usual sales pressure. Responsive and knowledgeable.”
“We’re a growing consulting firm and our liability needs kept changing. Trella helped us get the right professional and general liability limits without overbuying. They checked in again six months later when we hired more people. That follow-up mattered.”
Stories from professional services
Illustrative stories: what each business came in for, and what the review found.
A CPA Firm Bought E&O for Tax Mistakes. The Bigger Risk Was a Fake Email.
A twelve-person accounting firm had professional liability for errors in its work. The review found a claims-made trap in its switch of carriers, and a wire fraud exposure its E&O policy was never designed to cover.
E&OCyberEPLILegal servicesA Small Law Firm's Trust Account and the Email That Almost Emptied It
A four-attorney firm handling real estate closings assumed its malpractice policy covered a stolen wire. The review found that malpractice, cyber, and crime coverage each covered a different piece, and the firm had only one of them.
CyberE&OBOPStaffingA Staffing Agency Has Two Sets of Employees Who Can Sue It
A staffing firm placing warehouse workers had an EPLI policy for its own office staff. The review found that its real exposure was the hundreds of temporary workers it placed, and the client companies they worked for.
EPLIStop-gapE&OProfessional servicesAn Architecture Firm Asked Its Umbrella to Cover Design Errors. It Can't.
A growing residential and small commercial architecture practice needed higher limits for a public project. The plan was to add an umbrella. The review showed why that would not have covered the exposure the client cared about.
E&OGLUmbrellaProfessional servicesThe Marketing Agency, the Stock Photo, and the Client Contract Nobody Read Closely
A fifteen-person agency got a demand letter over an image used in a client campaign. The review found its policies split the claim in a way that left a gap, and a client contract that promised more than the agency could insure.
E&OCyberGLCommon questions
Does my BOP cover a client lawsuit over my advice?
No. Business owners policies and general liability exclude professional services. That exposure needs professional liability (E&O).
Can I include a limitation of liability in my contracts instead?
You should, and carriers reward it. But limitation clauses are not always enforced, and they do not stop a client from suing. Insurance pays for the defense either way.
Insurance for professional services, reviewed line by line.
Send us what you have. We review it line by line against your leases and contracts, and tell you plainly what is missing. Free, and no obligation.