What insurance does a consultant need?
There's no one-size answer. The right mix depends on how you work, who you work for, and what your contracts ask for. These are the coverages a consultant typically looks at first:
Professional liability
The core coverage for advice-based work: claims of errors, omissions, or negligence in your deliverables, with limits up to $1,000,000 per claim typically available.
General liability
Client contracts and office leases routinely require it. Covers third-party injuries and property damage, like an accident at a client site.
Cyber liability
If you hold client data and a breach or ransomware event hits, this addresses response costs and third-party exposure.
Coverage always depends on your specific situation. The fastest way to see what fits is to get a quote and review your options.
What does it protect against?
The risks that matter aren't abstract. They're the everyday accidents of the work. A few scenarios that turn into real claims:
A client says your advice cost them money
You recommend a systems migration and the rollout fails, taking the client's revenue down with it for a week. The client alleges your analysis missed an obvious risk and demands damages. That is the defining professional liability claim.
A missed deadline cascades into losses
Your deliverable slips two weeks, the client's product launch slips with it, and they claim the delay cost them a contract. Even when the facts are murky, defending the claim runs up legal bills fast.
An error in your work product
A financial model you built contains a formula error, and the client makes a hiring decision based on the wrong number. Errors and omissions in delivered work are exactly what E&O coverage is named for.
An accident at the client's office
You knock a laptop off a conference table during a workshop, or a client employee trips over your presentation equipment. Small physical accidents at client sites are why contracts ask consultants for general liability too.
Certificates of insurance
For consultants, the certificate of insurance request usually arrives with the master services agreement: enterprise clients' procurement teams routinely require proof of professional liability and general liability at stated limits before a statement of work is signed. Coworking spaces and office landlords ask for a COI too. Olli's general liability policies include instant certificates, so vendor onboarding doesn't stall on paperwork.
New to certificates? Start with our guide to the certificate of insurance: what's on one, who asks for it, and how to provide yours.