Finding the Right Insurance for Your Consulting Practice

No matter what type of business you may own, you are going to need to have the right type of insurance. If you have a consulting practice, you will definitely need to have liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance. This is going to cover you if you provide the wrong advice to your clients, and they decide to sue you as a result of something that may have happened after they took your advice. Liability insurance will protect you for a number of things, and will cover a variety of legal costs that may arise.Wrongful ActYour liability insurance policy for your consulting practice will cover “wrongful act”, which protects you from “an act, error, omission, misstatement, misleading statement or neglect or breach of duty”. This does not cover bodily injury or property damage, and you will need to have other insurance, such as general liability, in place for these things, just in case. If you have a client who claims you have not done your job properly, professional liability insurance covers this under as a wrongful act.Costs Covered by Liability InsuranceIf a client sues you for a wrongful act, you are going to incur a number of costs, and without liability insurance, these are costs that you may not be able to afford to cover. This could result in personal or business bankruptcy, and everything you worked for will be gone. When you have liability insurance, there are many expenses that are covered, including defense costs, which can get pretty hefty. Your liability insurance will also cover accidents that may occur, such as auto accidents involving company vehicles, and every business owner should have this insurance to protect them in case employees or clients injure themselves while on your property or using company vehicles/equipment.Other Types of Insurance You Should ConsiderLiability insurance is not the only insurance you should have if you are running your own business. You need to have health and disability insurance. Your business is probably your sole source of income, and if anything were to happen that you became ill or injured and unable to work, you would not have an income to support yourself. This is where health and disability insurance come in. It is also a good idea to have life insurance.If you have employees, you should have a workers’ compensation plan in place. If you do not have the right insurance, and one of your employees is injured on the job, it could end up costing you a lot of money for medical bills and down time. The right insurance will cover this, so it does not come out of your “pocket”, or company funds.It is important that as a business owner that you are carrying the right type of insurance. You need to make sure that you are covered for just about anything that can happen, and if you are not currently carrying insurance, or don’t know if you have the right type or amount of insurance, you should speak with an insurance agent today to make sure that you have everything you need. Don’t forget to shop around for quotes to get the best rates, and don’t take anything that you do not need and spend money unnecessarily.