Professional Liability insurance for Washington — E&O coverage from 6 A-rated carriers
For consultants, advisors, designers, IT, tech, marketing — Hiscox, Simply Business, Pathpoint, Semsee, Next, Colonial Surety.
Professional Liability — also called Errors & Omissions or E&O — is the coverage that pays when a client sues over the quality of your services. Defense costs alone routinely hit six figures. We shop 6 WA-licensed carriers, plus Cowbell's bundled cyber + tech E&O product for SaaS and IT.
Or call (509) 866-6294
Professional services firms in WA — almost all of them
Anyone whose work product is advice, design, code, strategy, analysis, or specialized services should carry E&O. The WA professional categories most exposed: management and IT consultants, software developers and SaaS founders, marketing and advertising agencies, designers (graphic, UX, interior), accountants and bookkeepers, financial advisors (where SIPC/FINRA doesn't already cover), real estate professionals, engineers and architects, HR consultants, and any contractor offering design-build or specification services beyond pure execution.
The trigger isn't whether you make mistakes — it's whether a client can plausibly claim you did and seek financial damages. Defense costs accrue from the day a claim is made, not the day fault is determined. A frivolous $80K claim that gets dismissed can still cost $40K to defend without E&O.
The six core E&O coverages
Professional Negligence
Failure to provide professional services to the standard expected of your industry. Most common trigger.
Errors & Omissions
Specific mistakes in deliverables — wrong analysis, missed deadlines, omitted requirements.
Defense Costs
Often the largest cost on any claim. Defense pays from the moment a claim is made through resolution.
Subpoena Response
Legal costs when you're subpoenaed in a third-party matter related to your services.
Regulatory / Disciplinary
Defense costs for regulatory or licensing-board proceedings (where insurable). Especially relevant for licensed professionals.
Worldwide Coverage
Most modern E&O policies provide worldwide jurisdiction for your services — important for tech, SaaS, and consulting firms with remote international clients.
The 6 WA-licensed E&O carriers we shop
- Hiscox — Hiscox NOW for SMB up to $5M revenue. Same-day E&O bind, broad professional class appetite, email policy delivery. Default first-call for standard professional risks.
- Simply Business — flat 12% commission, small business E&O. Strong for solo and small-firm professionals.
- Pathpoint — E&S wholesaler for hard-to-place professional risks, prior claims, niche specialties. Markel/Westchester paper.
- Semsee Market Access — backdoor to Travelers, GUARD, Vindati, Nationwide professional liability via Semsee's panel.
- Next — AI-based commercial, instant quote/bind/COI. Strong on tier-1 commission for mid-market.
- Colonial Surety — pending direct appointment; product suite includes BOP + GL + PL + Cyber + EPLI bundle for small commercial.
Bonus for SaaS / IT consultants: Cowbell's bundled cyber + tech E&O product covers both data-breach AND professional-liability exposure under one policy. Materially better than buying the two products separately and clearer at claim time.
What WA professional services firms actually pay
- Solo consultant / designer, <$250K rev: $300–$700/year for $1M / $1M E&O.
- Small firm (2–10 professionals), <$1M rev: $800–$2,200/year.
- Mid-market firm, $1M–$5M rev: $2,500–$5,000/year for $1M / $2M.
- High-risk classes (financial advisors, M&A, legal-adjacent): $5K+ depending on scope.
Subject to underwriting approval. Prior claims, high-revenue clients, and high-stakes engagements drive variance.
E&O questions we hear most
GL covers third-party bodily injury and property damage from your operations — physical harm, premises liability, products. E&O (Professional Liability) covers economic damages from your professional services — bad advice, missed deadlines, errors in deliverables, professional negligence. A consultant whose advice costs a client $200K needs E&O, not GL. A consultant whose laptop falls on a client's foot needs GL, not E&O. Most consultants, designers, IT firms, advisors, and tech companies need both.
A contract limits your contractual liability — it does not stop a client from suing for tort damages, malpractice, or fraud-adjacent claims, and it does not cover your defense costs which routinely run six figures even on weak claims. E&O pays the legal defense and the eventual settlement regardless of contract language. Sophisticated clients also increasingly require their vendors to carry $1M / $1M E&O minimum as a condition of the engagement — no policy, no contract.
Most E&O policies are claims-made — they only cover claims made AND reported during the active policy period, regardless of when the underlying work happened. This means three things: (1) you need to maintain continuous E&O coverage through the period when claims could surface (often years after the work), (2) when you switch carriers you may need a "prior acts" or "retroactive date" endorsement to maintain coverage on past work, and (3) when you wind down the business you may want to buy "tail" or extended reporting period coverage. We map all three at quote time so you don't lose coverage during transitions.
Yes, for the same reason you need any liability insurance with an LLC — the LLC protects personal assets from business debts in many situations, but it does not protect the business from professional liability claims, defense costs, or the operational disruption of being sued. The LLC is a corporate-form protection; E&O is a financial-and-defense protection. Most professional services firms hold both and treat them as complementary.
Standard professional liability covers: professional negligence and errors / omissions in your services, defense costs (often the largest single expense), regulatory or disciplinary proceedings (where insurable), subpoena response costs, and worldwide jurisdiction for your services. What it does NOT cover: bodily injury (that's GL), intentional acts, criminal conduct, fraud, contractual liability beyond what your professional standards would already require, and data breach incidents (that's Cyber). For tech and SaaS specifically, Cowbell's bundled cyber + tech E&O product covers both gaps under one policy.