Lawsuits cost North Carolina businesses that provide professional advice and services many millions of dollars every year. The best way to protect the business you’ve worked so hard to build against these costs is to get adequate professional liability (also known as errors and omissions, E&O, or business malpractice) insurance. This article will reveal the best professional liability insurers in North Carolina, along with everything you need to know to get the right coverage for your business.
- The 6 best professional liability insurance companies in North Carolina
- What is professional liability insurance?
- What does professional liability insurance cover?
- Who needs professional liability insurance in North Carolina?
- Why do I need professional liability insurance in North Carolina?
- How much professional liability insurance do I need in North Carolina?
- How much does professional liability insurance cost in North Carolina?
- What factors affect the cost of professional liability insurance?
The 6 best professional liability insurance companies in North Carolina
Many companies offer professional liability insurance in North Carolina. We have done the research and here are our 6 top picks for your consideration:
- CoverWallet: Best for professionals who want to compare E&O insurance quotes quickly
- Hiscox: Best for small businesses with unique E&O coverage needs
- The Hartford: Best for professionals looking for a solid and ethical insurer
- biBerk: Best for fast digital experience from a well-known insurance company
- Liberty Mutual: Best for companies that expect their coverage needs to grow and change
- State Farm: Best for complete insurance coverage for professionals
CoverWallet: Best for professionals who want to compare E&O insurance quotes quickly
CoverWallet makes it easy to compare insurance quotes from several providers in minutes, all on one screen.
CoverWallet is a cutting-edge insurance provider. The firm has developed its one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art platform, based on its data, to ensure it can connect business owners with all the business insurance they need, including business malpractice coverage, at a fair price.
The firm’s experts have used their extensive experience to make sure you only have to input the information needed to generate quick and accurate quotes. The entire process should take less than ten minutes, although sometimes you may need to complete the process with a phone call.
You can feel confident knowing that CoverWallet is a part of Aon, an established company that provides advice to businesses on risks, health, and retirement.
Once you get your quote, CoverWallet makes it easy to purchase a professional liability policy — or a complete business insurance package — online or through an agent. When you get your insurance through CoverWallet, it’s simple to manage your coverage online, including downloading a certificate of insurance, filing a claim, renewing your policy, and more.
You can start an insurance quote with CoverWallet online. However, because of the complexity of covering a practice, you will likely need to complete the process with a phone call.
Here is a sample professional liability insurance quote for a small accounting firm in Charlotte.
Hiscox: Best for small businesses with unique E&O coverage needs
Hiscox offers a complete array of business coverages, including professional liability insurance. It’s a leading insurer specializing in small companies.
Hiscox makes it easy to purchase most types of business insurance online. You can also speak with experienced business insurance experts who can help you customize your coverage to meet the specific risks you and your employees face. The insurer is known for its top-tier service, providing fast quotes, supplying instant coverage, and processing claims quickly.
If you choose Hiscox for your business coverage, you can feel confident knowing you’re entrusting your organization to a firm in operation since 1901. More than 400,000 companies have turned to Hiscox for their coverage.
Here is a sample professional liability insurance quote for a small accounting firm in Charlotte.
The Hartford: Best for professionals looking for a solid and ethical insurer
The Hartford is one of the oldest companies in the United States. It’s offered insurance solutions for more than 200 years and has helped one million-plus businesses with their coverage needs. The company takes pride in that the Ethisphere Institute named it a World’s Most Ethical Company for more than a decade. The Hartford’s long history and focus on sound business practices makes it a company you can feel confident about doing business with.
The Hartford’s dedicated and highly experienced small business team is available to help business owners explore their professional liability and other business insurance options. If you decide to purchase coverage from The Hartford, you can rest assured knowing you’re entrusting your business to a strong, stable, knowledgeable, and ethical provider.
Here is a sample professional liability insurance quote for a small accounting firm in Charlotte.
biBerk: Best for a fast digital experience from a well-known insurance company
biBerk is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business insurance provider, ie. they sell most of their policies directly to the customers, not through any agents or brokers. That’s the reason why they offer a robust digital experience. Getting quotes is very fast, less than 5 minutes and if you are happy with the quote, you can buy online and manage your policy completely online. biBERK promises that they lowers insurance costs by almost 20 percent because it insures small businesses directly, without the added costs of having to work through an intermediary or insurance broker. However, as you can see from the sample quote below, it is not always true. For the same accounting firm located in Charlotte, NC, biBERK’s quote is a lot more expensive than any other companies that we got quote from.
You can rest assured knowing biBerk is a part of Berkshire Hathaway, a company headed by well-known investor Warren Buffett. It’s a firm with millions of satisfied customers that’s been insuring people and businesses for more than 75 years.
Here is a sample professional liability insurance quote for a small accounting firm in Charlotte.
Liberty Mutual: Best for companies that expect their coverage needs to grow and change
Small businesses change over time, and their insurance needs evolve, as well. Liberty Mutual is uniquely able to serve their changing insurance needs. This is especially important when it comes to professional liability coverage. It’s not enough to secure business insurance once. You need to keep up with it and get more and different coverage as your risks increase and evolve.
In addition to professional liability protection, Liberty Mutual offers one of the most comprehensive ranges of business coverages of any insurer. It can customize policies to meet the needs of virtually any business. In addition to this, their experts are always looking ahead to identify new professional business risks and find efficient ways to cover them.
In addition to its flexibility, Liberty Mutual is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest insurance firms in the United States and across the globe. You can feel confident knowing that Liberty Mutual will have the funds to cover any claim you make.
State Farm: Best for complete insurance coverage for professionals
State Farm takes a unique approach to providing business insurance. It offers bundles of coverages tailored to 300 plus different industries, some of which include professional liability insurance. If you decide to get your professional liability coverage through State Farm, you can bundle it with many types of insurance tailored to your specific needs and risks.
State Farm has been recognized as a top insurance provider to smaller businesses. The company has been around since 1935. It’s known for its high level of service and quick claims process.
What is professional liability insurance?
Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions coverage (E&O), also called as malpractice insurance in medical and legal industries, is a type of small business insurance that protects professionals and businesses against negligence claims from customers or clients, whether the organization is found guilty or not.
Professional liability insurance usually covers negligence, wrong or incomplete advice, copyright infringement, personal injury, and more. Claims covered by a professional liability policy can include damages resulting from things you did or should have done and failed to do. It can also include things you said that may have been incorrect or incomplete.
What does professional liability insurance cover?
Professional liability insurance protects professionals and businesses against claims of negligence from clients or customers. E&O insurance typically covers negligence, copyright infringement, personal injury, and more. Claims covered by a professional liability policy can include harm caused by things you or someone who works for you did or should have done.
It typically pays for:
- Alleged or actual negligence
- Defense costs
- Mistakes you make that cause someone to suffer financially
- Breach of contract
Example: You are a family lawyer. You provide advice to a client going through a divorce. She believes the advice you gave her caused her to lose custody of her kids. She sues you because of it. Your legal costs, up to policy limits, will be covered whether you made an error or not, and your settlement costs will be paid if you’re found guilty, again, up to policy limits.
What doesn’t professional liability insurance cover?
Most importantly, it will not cover intentional harm caused by anyone covered by a policy. For example, If an accountant provides bad financial advice to put someone out of business and they’re sued, legal and settlement costs would not be covered if they’re found to have come out of malicious intent.
E&O insurance also will not cover lawsuits that come out of illegal activities.
Also, things covered by other types of insurance, such as business-related vehicle accidents, workplace injuries, or damage to client property caused while doing business, won’t be covered by professional liability insurance.
Who needs professional liability insurance in North Carolina?
People in different professions require their own types of general liability insurance. Check out these individual guides to different types of professional liability coverage:
- Lawyers – Top 5 Providers of Legal Malpractice Insurance & How Much It Costs
- Accountants & CPAs – Professional Liability Insurance (E&O) for Accountants and CPAs
- Tax preparers – The Best E&O Insurance for Tax Preparers
- Doctors – The 5 Best Providers of Medical Malpractice Insurance
- Consultants – Professional Liability Insurance (E&O) for Consultants
- Real estate agents – Top 5 Providers of Real Estate E&O Insurance & Costs
- Insurance agents – E&O Insurance for Insurance Agents: Cost and Top 5 Providers
- Engineers – Top 5 Providers of Professional Liability Insurance for Architects and Engineers
- Marketing and advertising services
- Psychologists – Top 4 Providers of Malpractice Insurance for Psychologists and Counselors
- Nurses – The Best 4 Providers of Nursing Malpractice Insurance
- Nurse practitioners: The Best Malpractice Insurance for Nurse Practitioners
- Dentists – Top 5 Providers of Dental Malpractice Insurance
- Dental hygienists – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Dental Hygienists
- Physician’s assistants – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Physician’s Assistants
- Physical Therapists – The 6 Best Malpractice Insurance Providers for Physical Therapists
- Chiropractors – 4 Best Choices for Cheap Chiropractic Malpractice Insurance
- Pharmacists – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Pharmacists and Costs
- Social workers – The Best Malpractice Insurance for Social Workers
Bottom line: Anyone who provides advice and services to clients for a fee should consider professional liability insurance.
Why do I need professional liability insurance in North Carolina?
Owners of North Carolina businesses that provide expertise, advice, information, or services for a fee should consider professional liability insurance. The coverage protects your company and its bottom line from client or customer claims of late, incomplete, or unsatisfactory work and bad advice. Accusations related to these things often result in costly lawsuits.
Example: If you’re an accountant and provide a client with advice that causes them to lose money, they could sue you.
When it comes to professional liability, you don’t have to make any mistakes for a client to sue you. They could do so just because they’re unhappy because something didn’t go their way. Even frivolous or unjustified lawsuits can be expensive. Professional liability insurance can take away some of the financial stress owners of businesses that provide advice or services face every day.
If you are a doctor, lawyer, or other professional in North Carolina, you are not required to purchase malpractice insurance. As I’ve already covered, you will probably want to, since carrying malpractice insurance in North Carolina will protect your finances and reputation if you face a malpractice or professional liability claim.
How much professional liability insurance do I need in North Carolina?
If you have a small business, a $1 million occurrence limit/$1 million aggregate policy is very common. This means you’re limited to $1 million of coverage per event (occurrence) and $1 million of coverage for the lifetime of the policy, which typically lasts a year. Although this is a popular policy, you may want to talk to an experienced business insurance agent or company representative to discuss your specific situation and needs.
Lawsuits can be costly, so you need to make sure you get enough coverage for your business.
How much does professional liability insurance cost in North Carolina?
According to Progressive Insurance, small business owners in North Carolina who purchased a professional liability policy from the firm paid just under $50 per month for coverage. That comes to approximately $600 per year.
Use that figure as a benchmark. A small party planning business in North Carolina will likely pay far less for this coverage than a relatively inexperienced heart surgeon. In the end, your premium will be based on the unique characteristics of your business and the insurer providing the quote. That’s why you need to get multiple quotes from different providers to secure the right coverage for you at the best possible price.
What factors affecting the cost of professional liability insurance?
The cost of E&O coverage depends on many factors, including:
The type of work you do and the level of risk in your industry
As we discussed earlier, a surgeon is exposed to very different kind and different level of risks from an IT consultant. Even within healthcare industry and with the same profession, a surgeon is exposed to a different level of risks from a family doctor. Similarly, the risks that a emergency room nurse experiences are different from those a nurse working in family doctor office does. Different risk types and different levels of risks have a significant impact on the cost of professional liability insurance.
Number of clients and the services they purchase from you
The more clients you have and the more services that they purchase from you, the more expensive your professional liability insurance is. This is because the more business activities you do, the more likely you make mistakes. And the more clients you have, the more likely one or some of them will sue you, even when you do not make any mistakes.
Number of employees
Similarly, if you business employ many employees and they each work directly with the clients, the professional liability insurance policy for your firm will be more expensive. The more employees you have, the more likely they are making mistakes.
How experienced you and your employees are
It is logical that the more experienced you are, the less likely you make mistakes in your profession. When you buy professional liability insurance, insurance companies always ask for your years of experience in your profession and being in the business, the more experience you have, the cheaper your policy is.
Coverage limits and deductibles
You can lower the cost of professional liability insurance by lowering the coverage limits of the policy or increasing the deductible amount.
