Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O)

E&O insurance coverage for small businesses can be required for some professional certifications and contract requirements. However, it depends on your profession and the state where you do business.

For example, a real estate agent might need to buy a real estate E&O policy and provide a certificate of insurance (COI) before signing on with a broker. Insurance agents often need to have errors and omissions coverage before they can work with an insurance carrier or agency.

Even if errors and omissions liability coverage is not required, most businesses that provide a service or offer professional advice can benefit from its protections. It can help protect you from financial losses and it lets clients know that they may be protected if you make a mistake. This can help build trust and instill confidence in you and your employees.

While E&O coverage can cover costs around professional mistakes, there’s a lot of business risk that would need to be addressed by other types of business insurance policies. For example:

Property damage costs

General liability insurance could cover your accidental damage costs to property that you don’t own. But if you want to help shield your business from the costs of your own property getting damaged, look into commercial property insurance.

Injury costs and medical bills

If a non-employee gets hurt at your place of business or job site, general liability insurance could help cover the medical costs. But to cover your employees or yourself in the event of a work-related illness or injury, you’ll need workers’ compensation insurance. Note that workers’ comp is required coverage for businesses that have employees in most states.

Cars, trucks, trailers, or other vehicles you use for business driving

Commercial auto insurance could help protect your business from the unexpected cost of vehicle repair, replacement or rental if you or your employees are involved in a covered accident or incident.

Computer system hacks and cyberattacks

Cyber protection coverage could help cover financial losses to your business from cyberattacks, phishing schemes, data breaches or ransomware. At ERGO NEXT Insurance, cyber liability insurance is an optional add-on to your general liability coverage or errors and omissions insurance.

E&O insurance coverage is not one-size-fits-all. Several factors determine how much coverage is the right amount for your business, including:

• State regulations and requirements. Some licensed professions (like real estate agents or insurance agents) have state-mandated minimum E&O limits. Be sure to check your local requirements.
• The requirements of your contract. Many clients, especially larger companies or government agencies, specify a minimum E&O limit (often $1M or $2M) as a condition of doing business. If you’re looking into coverage to fulfill a specific job request, read your contract closely.
• The size of your typical jobs. Claims often scale with the size of your contracts. If your business is managing $500,000 work, you may need more professional errors and omissions insurance than a business with $5,000 projects.
• Your annual revenue and the size of your business. Larger businesses with more clients and more exposure generally need higher policy limits. While there’s no strict number to follow, small businesses and freelancers may start with around $250,000–$1M in coverage, and high-risk businesses may carry $2M+ or add additional umbrella coverage.
• The industry you’re in and your general level of business risk. Consultants, IT professionals, and financial advisors often face larger claims than some other lower-risk service providers, so they tend to carry higher limits.

While real estate agents and real estate brokers could benefit from several types of business insurance, errors and omissions insurance is one of the most common, and often required, for this profession.

The rules for real estate professionals vary state to state, so be sure to check with your local real estate governing agency for local regulations where you plan to do business.

Even if you don’t practice real estate in one of these states, E&O insurance could help your business if you face legal trouble to help pay for your defense fees and judgments (up to your policy limits).

While E&O insurance isn’t technically a state mandate in most states, it’s almost universally required across the country for an insurance agent to receive a condition of appointment or to write a policy contract. Be sure to check with your local Department of Insurance to see the requirements in the state where you work.

Absolutely. ERGO NEXT Insurance has errors and omissions policies for notaries public. Getting a quote is free and no-obligation. In about 10 minutes, a notary can see the exact price specific to the liability of their business, 100% online. And if you like what you see, you can buy online — no agent required — and begin coverage immediately after payment.

If you work as a travel agent, ERGO NEXT Insurance may be able to write your E&O policy — and you can do everything online, 24/7. Answer a few questions about your business, see your price, adjust your policy limits, and get covered right away. Many online customers can get their policy 100% online in about 10 minutes or less. Start a free quote with us.

Professional liability insurance and errors and omissions insurance are the same type of business insurance policy. The name can be different depending on your industry in which you work.

Both policies could help protect you if you’re accused of making a professional error that leads to a financial loss for a client.

• Professional liability coverage is usually the choice for accountants, consultants, engineers and architects.
• Errors & omissions insurance is the professional standard for real estate and insurance agent professionals.

No, contractor’s E&O for the construction industry is similar, but different from errors and omissions liability insurance.

Contractor’s errors and omissions insurance (also called contractor’s E&O) is a type of small business insurance that could help cover costs if you’re a contractor or a construction worker accused of making workmanship errors.

Say, for example, you’re an electrician who overloads a circuit and causes a failure, your policy could help cover expenses to fix it or defend your business against legal action. Or if you’re an HVAC contractor accused of damaging ductwork that you’re working on, contractors’ E&O could help cover expenses to fix the problem or defend your business.

Similarly, professional errors and omissions insurance could help protect many types of small businesses that offer professional advice or service if they’re accused of making a professional error that leads to a client’s financial loss.

Learn more about contractor’s E&O insurance.

It depends on your industry and business operations.

In some cases, we may provide prior acts coverage for businesses that have maintained continuous E&O liability coverage at similar or higher limits since the requested retroactive date.

Yes, ERGO NEXT customers can easily add an additional insured and share their certificate of insurance through their customer account.

Yes. ERGO NEXT Insurance can give you up to a 10% discount when you add an errors and omissions policy to your existing coverage. And you can add E&O coverage yourself 24/7 directly through your existing customer account.

You can file a claim anytime online or in the ERGO NEXT app.

You’ll be asked to share the details of what happened and to provide relevant photos and documentation. We strive to make claims decisions as quickly as possible so that you can get back to work.

Learn how to file an insurance claim with ERGO NEXT Insurance.

It takes about 10 minutes to get a quote, buy coverage and get access to policy documents and your certificate of insurance (COI).

You can access your documents and COI 24/7 online or in the ERGO NEXT app for iPhone or Android.