The Importance of Professional and General Liability for Technology Consultants

• What is professional liability and why is it important?

Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions, helps to protect any service-providing individuals from negligence claims and provides coverage for personal injury and defense costs. Lawsuits from less than happy clients can be particularly dangerous to technology consultants without professional liability insurance, as they may be expected to bear the full cost of defense against client lawsuits. For example, if a client feels that the work of a certain service-providing individual, a technology consultant in this case, is insufficient or lackluster, they may feel inclined to file a lawsuit against said individual in order to recover from lost profits. Professional liability, in this case, would protect the technology consultant from any claims of negligence and help to mitigate any financial losses taken as a result of the client lawsuit. Professional liability is highly advantageous to anybody working in the field of technology consultation and can help to eliminate many potentially dangerous risks.

• What about general liability?

Although still important, professional liability insurance does not cover all risks and situations. This is why, in addition to professional liability insurance, it is also important for technology consultants to hold general liability insurance. General liability insurance covers property damage and claims of bodily harm and coinciding medical costs. General liability insurance can also protect technology consultants from slander, defamation, and advertising injury. For example, if a tech consultant is sued on the basis of copyright infringement, the resulting costs can be covered by the consultant’s general liability insurance plan.

There are endless risks in the world of technology consultation, many of which can be costly. This is why it is important for all service-providing individuals, including technology consultants, to be under both a professional and general liability insurance plan.