Consultant Insurance Guide: Introduction
This page will provide you with the guidance required on insurance for your job as a consultant, including for careers such as a human resources (HR) consultant, project management consultant, operations consultant, business consultant, management consultant, recruiter, strategy consultant, training consultant, IT consultant and more. We will also offer you cheap consultant insurance quotes across multiple companies and a connection to experienced insurance professionals.
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What Types of Consultant Insurance do you Need?
As a consultant, the main insurance type you need is professional liability. Very often, before granting you a consulting contract, or even for your participation in a request for proposal (RFP), you are required to provide evidence that you have enough liability insurance coverage. Amounts can vary from client to client and from industry to industry, but coverage amounts between $500,000 and $10,000,000 are not rare.
Apart from that, there are some other insurance policies you might need as a consultant – you will find out more about it below. Should you be interested in any of these types of insurance, please do not hesitate to get a consultant insurance quote. An experienced insurance professional will explain the details to you.
| Insurance | Brief description | Do I need it? | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
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Commercial Professional Liability
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Insurance that covers risk of financial loss from people who relied on your consultancy, or your other services or products. In other words, should your clients sue you because they are not happy and you were the reason for their discontent, you are protected. It is also called simply “professional liability”. This is the most important insurance for a consultant – make sure to get a free, no-obligation consultant insurance quote today. | Almost Always | Your consulting advice led to your client’s company losing a significant amount of money and your client blames it on your lack of research. |
|
Group Insurance
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Should you have several staff members working for you, both as consultants and/or support staff (e.g. HR, IT, accounting, etc.), you might consider getting group insurance. That is often a combination of life insurance, disability insurance, and health insurance. Should you be interested in this insurance type, please click here to get a group insurance quote. | Sometimes | Should some of your staff members require medical services, such as dental work, vision care and prescriptions, group insurance will pay for it (up to the defined coverage limits). |
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Commercial Property Insurance
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This insurance type covers all equipment /devices you might need when providing your consulting services. In some cases, that’s quite straight forward with a laptop as a main consulting tool. Some other consultants might be using more complex and expensive equipment and need to make sure that it is insured. | Sometimes | Insuring complex devices for your sophisticated technical consulting services might be handy should anything happen to your equipment. |
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Commercial Car Insurance
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This insurance covers business use of cars that you might be using when visiting your clients. This type of insurance is only applicable to your consulting business if your business owns cars. Many consultants use available means of transportation, such as planes, trains, cabs or Uber vehicles, instead of owning a company vehicle. | Rarely | If you, as an electrician, have a vehicle to drive to your customers and transport your tools, you will require a commercial car insurance |
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Commercial Building Insurance
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If you own a commercial property, you will most likely need to insure it. Should you simply lease some space to operate your consulting business, a commercial tenant insurance policy would be the right solution. | Rarely | Unless you own the building you are operating from, you probably do not need this insurance type. |
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Which Consultants Need to get a Consultant Insurance Quote?
- Almost all consultants need insurance: Even if your client does not ask you to get insurance, make sure that you have a decent professional liability policy. You do not want to operate any consulting business without insurance coverage.
- Consulting society regulations: Many consulting services are overseen by organizations that are respected and provide guidance related to your field of consultancy. Make sure to check what typical insurance coverage they recommend. Liability coverage is often recommended.
- Get liability first: If you are not sure what coverage you need, make sure that you have a decent liability insurance policy in place at the very least.. As your company grows, you can look into other insurance types.
- Membership discounts: When talking to our brokers, make sure to mention if you are member of a particular organization, such as a union or alumni group. You might be eligible for an additional discount that will qualify you for a cheaper consultant insurance policy.
What is the Difference Between Errors and Omissions Insurance, Professional Liability Insurance and Malpractice Insurance?
The truth is that all of these insurance types relate to the same risk and mean the same thing – a risk of you being liable as a consequence of the services you have provided to your clients (subject to mistakes, misinterpretation, etc.) Historically, though, these three insurance types focused on different jobs – see an overview below.
| Errors and Omission Insurance | Professional Liability Insurance | Malpractice Insurance | |
| In the past | Professional liability for such professionals as real estate specialists, accountants / bookkeepers, technology specialists | Insurance for such professionals as architects, designers, engineers, etc. | Professional liability for legal advisors (e.g. lawyers, paralegals) and medical professionals (e.g. doctors, dentists, etc.) |
| Today | Basically the same – professional liability insurance covers financial losses for alleged negligence or errors / omissions of the policy holder. |
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| Link | Interested in finding out more? Check our Errors and Omissions Insurance page | Interested in finding out more? Check our section for health professionals insurance | |
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What Jobs are Defined as Consultants and may Require Consultant Insurance?
Who is actually considered a consultant in Canada, and do you fit into this category?
Let’s have a look at a few sources defining what consultants do. If you recognize yourself in this list, you need consultant insurance.
According to the Canadian Revenue Agency, the categories of consultants in Canada are:
- Administrative management and general management consultants
- Environmental consultants
- Human resources consultants
- Management consultants
- Scientific and technical consultants
There are some specific consulting jobs that fall into a consultant definition, based on InsurEye’s experience – if you recognize one of those, again, you are in the right spot for affordable consultant insurance.
- Management consultant
- Engineering consultant
- Business consultant
- Market research consultant
- IT consultant
- Management advisor
- Marketing consultant
- Business productivity consultant
- Operations consultant
- Communications consultant
- Technology consultant
- Project management consultant
Don’t see your consulting job here? Don’t worry – get a quote using our green button and an experienced business insurance specialist will help you.