When it comes to running a business, risk management is critical to success. That is why you are an industry expert and understand the intricacies of your trade or service. In today’s world, lawsuits are one of many risks that threaten the success of businesses.
Even when you adhere to standard practice procedures, clients can still sue your company for errors. Unfortunately, professionals that give advice or perform medical procedures on people usually face the risk of these lawsuits.
Errors and omissions insurance protects companies from lawsuits alleging errors or omissions in professional services. If a client or customer sues you, this coverage can help pay for your defense costs and legal settlements.
The cost of E&O insurance is a common concern for business owners, which is why we’ve compiled E&O insurance costs for you.
- How much does E&O insurance cost?
- Where to get cheap E&O insurance quotes?
- What factors affect the cost of E&O insurance?
- How to reduce the cost of E&O insurance?
- What does Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance cover?
- Who needs Errors and Omissions insurance?
How much does E&O insurance cost?
The average cost of E&O insurance for small businesses is $72 per month, or $864 per year. However this is just the average rate of millions of E&O insurance policies.
There is no set standard price for errors and omissions insurance. That is because the cost of errors and omissions varies from profession to profession, as different professions have inherent risk factors.
Generally, errors and omissions insurance is most expensive in the medical, legal, architectural, and engineering fields. This is because if these professionals make a mistake, the consequences could be disastrous.
For instance, a lawyer’s error might lead to a person’s incarceration. Similarly, someone could die if a doctor makes a mistake in the medical field. A structure could collapse if an architect or engineer makes a mistake, killing innocent bystanders.
Even amongst professionals in the same industry, there are still large variations because error implications may differ. For instance, Gynecologists/Obstetricians and surgeons are the costliest to insure for errors and omissions. This is because they handle more procedures that can be life-threatening.
The only way for you to know how much your E&O insurance costs is to get shop with a few companies or work with a top broker like CoverWallet or Simply Business to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you.
E&O insurance cost for insurance agents
Generally, insurance agents pay $59 a month or $748 a year for E&O insurance. Insurance agents need errors and omissions insurance because they may omit contract terms or miss milestones. Mistakes can lead to insurance agents facing lawsuits, including the following.
- Selling a useless insurance policy.
- Customer overbilling
- Lost customer document
- Disclosure of customer information
Learn more at the best E&O insurance companies for insurance agents
How much is real estate agent E&O insurance?
Real estate agents generally pay $59 per month or $738 per year for E&O insurance. Real estate agents face similar risks to insurance agents. Since no one is infallible, real estate agents should consider having this policy to protect their business. If lawsuits arise, E&O insurance for real estate agents can cover attorney fees, settlements, or judgments.
Learn more at the best E&O insurance companies for real estate agents
Accounting and bookkeeping E&O cost
Errors and omissions insurance for bookkeepers and accountants costs about $39/month or $466/year for a coverage of $1 million to $2 million. The policy may cover an accountant or bookkeeper when a client files a claim for economic or financial losses for any of the following reasons:
- Omission or duplication
- Number conversion
- Incorrect account numbers
- Transforming expenses into items
Learn more at the best professional liability insurance companies for accountants and CPAs
Appliance repair technician E&O insurance cost
Appliance repair shops and technicians pay $27.59/month or $331.08/year for errors and omissions insurance. Errors and omissions insurance protects the technician from issues like:
- Untested appliance returned to the client
- Wrong assembly
- Inaccuracy in repair and other errors
Cost of freight broker E&O
Freight broker E&O insurance covers $1 million to $2 million. It’s $47.25/month or $567/year. Errors and omissions insurance covers a freight broker’s mistakes if a client files a claim.
- Untransparent client service
- Unplanned load delivery
- An unfit owner-operator or trucking company
- Misfiling client documents
Glazier E&O cost
Glaziers pay $43 a month or $516 a year for a $1 million policy. Glaziers can use errors and omissions to pay for defense costs and compensation if a client sues for:
- Poor glasswork
- Poor glass installation damaged a building.
- Incorrect glass is used in a building.
Fire alarm installer E&O
Fire alarm installers’ errors and omissions insurance costs $8/month or $86/year. This price buys $300,000 – $1 million in coverage. When a client files a claim, fire alarm installers can use E&O insurance to protect themselves from claims like:
- The operator unplugged all alarms
- The fire alarm keeps falsely alarming.
- The operator installed only one alarm
- Not testing the alarm before claiming it’s installed
Arborists’ E&O premiums
Arborists pay an average of $18 a month or $232 a year for errors and omissions insurance. Errors and omissions insurance protects arborists from:
- Random tree trimming
- Over felling of trees
- Mishandling the debris of tree trimming
Lawyers’ E&O premiums
A lawyer’s E&O insurance is also called legal malpractice insurance. Generally speaking, this insurance policy costs about $88 per month on average or $969 per year. The policer covers defense costs and compensatory payments when a client sues a lawyer for issues like:
- Poor defense
- Legal document misspellings
- Inconsistent contracts
- Court proceedings and missed deadlines
- Court absenteeism
Learn more at the best legal malpractice insurance companies
Veterinarian E&O insurance cost
Veterinarians pay about $55.20 on average per month or $656.38 per year for a coverage of $1 million in errors and omissions insurance. This policy covers claims for:
- Misdiagnosis or overdosing patients
- Infections resulting from mistakes
Social worker E&O insurance cost
Social workers pay $80/month or $960/year for $1 million-$2 million errors and omissions insurance. Errors and omissions insurance for social workers covers mistakes like:
- Impertinence
- Interference
- Mismanagement
- Misplaced referrals
- Privacy breach
- Rights violations
- Third-party warnings
Learn more at the best social work malpractice insurance companies
Emergency medical technicians’ error-and-omissions insurance cost
EMTs can get $1 million to $2 million coverage in errors and omissions insurance for $99 per month on average. Some insurance companies, however, offer up $5 million in E&O coverage, which is more expensive. EMT errors and omissions insurance covers claims for:
- Delay
- Misdiagnosis
- Misusing a patient’s medication
- Non-follow-up
- Patient mishandling
Engineer E&O cost
Engineers pay $169/month or $1,780/year for $2 million in E&O insurance. This policy typically covers attorney fees, other legal costs, and compensation when a client files a claim for:
- Incompetent hiring
- Lack of skill or experience causes errors in blueprints and engineering plans.
- Missing deadlines
Learn more at the best professional liability insurance for engineers
Personal trainer E&O insurance Cost
Personal trainers can get $1 million in coverage for $35 per month or $420 per year. Personal trainers can use E&O insurance to cover issues like:
- Not helping client lift weights
- The personal trainer instructed too much weightlifting or unsuitable routines.
- The trainer didn’t correct the client’s bad posture, causing injuries.
Learn more at the best personal trainer insurance companies
Spin instructor E&O cost
Spin teachers may unintentionally overwork or injure their students. This might result in claims that can cost thousands of dollars. However, since these cases are rare, spin instructors have cheap E&O insurance. On average, a $1 million policy costs about $8.50/month or $104/year.
Cost of event planner E&O insurance
Event planners may miss deadlines and waste client resources. This error costs many people money and frustration, which Event planners may be held liable for. Event planners typically pay $28 per month or $320 per year for a $1 million policy.
Learn more at the best event planner insurance companies
Where to get cheap E&O insurance quotes?
The easiest way to save money on insurance is to shop around. For the investment of just a few hours, you could save hundreds to thousands of dollars. You can shop online, through agents, or through digital brokers.
Get cheap E&O insurance quotes online from carriers
It’s easy to get E&O insurance quotes online, especially for popular professionals such as accountants, CPAs, investment advisors, IT consultant, or business consultant. Simply enter your information and usually you’ll get a quote in less than ten minutes.
- NEXT: best for for a great digital experience and affordable rates
- Thimble: best for short-term general liability and BOP coverage
- Hiscox: best if you prefer a more established carrier
Get cheap E&O insurance quotes online from brokers
Digital brokers are not insurance companies; they partner with insurance companies to bring you multiple quotes if you fill out one form. Brokers don’t underwrite their own insurance, but it’s an easy and efficient way to comparison shop. Sometimes you’ll be redirected to the insurance company once you have a quote to buy the policy. Sometimes you can buy the policy directly on the broker’s websites.
- Simply Business: best broker to find low-cost coverage
- CoverWallet: best for comparing several quotes online
What factors affect the cost of E&O insurance?
As we already established, the cost of E&O insurance varies by profession and the inherent risk factors in the profession. However, the following are some additional factors that may affect the cost of errors and omissions insurance:
Size of the business
Your insurer will likely measure the size of your company when giving you quotes for E&O insurance. This is because risks are usually higher depending on how many people work for you. As a result, most small businesses with fewer employees pay less for E&O insurance.
Revenue of your business
Clients tend to sue companies that have more money. That’s because the more revenue you have, the more you can pay for lawsuits. Therefore, insurers will charge you more for E&O insurance if you make more money.
Location
Where you do business is an important factor that may impact the cost of your E&O insurance. If you do business in a state requiring more coverage, you will pay more. Also, if litigation costs are generally high in your state, you may pay more for E&O insurance.
History of claims
If you have had prior insurance claims, you can expect to pay more for E&O insurance.
Coverage limits
Your coverage limits are important because policies with higher limits tend to be more expensive than those with lower limits.
When purchasing Errors and Omissions Insurance, you must understand what you are paying for and what you will receive in return. E&O insurance policies typically come with two types of limits:
- Occurrence limit – This is the maximum amount your insurance company will pay you for any claim made on your policy arising from a single event, regardless of the number of people injured.
- Aggregate limit – This is the maximum amount your insurance company will pay out throughout the policy.
How to reduce the cost of E&O insurance?
Cost should not be the reason your business is not protected with E&O insurance. To ensure full protection at a reduced cost, the following are some ideas that may help:
Shop around for affordable insurance policies
When you shop around, you may find quality and affordable E&O coverage. One thing to keep in mind is that your errors and omissions coverage should be affordable while also providing adequate coverage.
Training for employees
Training is important as it helps your workers manage risk efficiently and avoid scenarios that may bring claims. Therefore, insurers usually offer lesser rates for companies that offer training to their employees.
Liability contracts
Contracts are important because they can make you more or less liable depending on how they are written. You can sign liability contracts to have other companies carry out some of your most risky operations to reduce risks. Depending on your agreements, such companies may be liable for mishaps when they happen. That will also reduce the cost of your insurance.
What does Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance cover?
E&O insurance can help cover mistakes in professional services provided to customers. For example, if, as an accountant, your financial advice causes your clients to lose money, this coverage can help pay for any claims they file against you.
Errors and omissions insurance is essential. Because even if your company did not make a mistake, a client or customer could still sue you. You’d have to pay these expenses if you didn’t have insurance:
- Attorney’s fees
- Legal expenses
- Judgments
- Settlements
Who needs Errors and Omissions insurance?
You should consider E&O insurance if you provide services to clients or customers, such as real estate agents or accountants. Other examples of small businesses that require this coverage include:
- Advertising and marketing firms could be sued if they create an ad or digital experience with a mistake that costs their client money
- Accountants are often taken to court if they make calculation errors that result in financial losses for their clients. Learn more at best E&O insurance companies for accountants and CPAs
- Consultants are often sued if the recommendations they make to their clients cause harm to their businesses. Learn more at best professional liability insurance for consultants
- Educators could be sued because students think they taught them something wrong and it caused harm. Learn more at the best professional liability insurance for teachers
- Engineers could be held liable if they misinterpret architectural plans and make a construction error that keeps a structure from being approved for use. Learn more at the best professional liability insurance for engineers and architects
- Florists and wedding planners may be held legally responsible for not delivering flowers, a cake, the right photographer, or any other contractually required service. Learn more at the best insurance for wedding planners
- Hair stylists are often sued if they cut, burn or otherwise harm a customer while trimming, styling, or coloring hair. Learn more at the best business insurance for hair stylists and hairdressers
- Lawyers and law firms are often held legally liable if they provide advice to clients that’s wrong, incomplete, or in any way makes their legal situation worse. Learn more at the best legal malpractice insurance companies
- Medical and healthcare professionals are frequently sued for malpractice if the service they provide does not help a patient get better or makes their condition worse. Learn more at the best medical malpractice insurance companies
- Printing and publishing companies are taken to court for things like making a mistake in a book they publish or forgetting to print invitations on time
- Veterinarians can be sued for providing care to animals that doesn’t improve their health or makes it worse.
