Professional Services Insurance in Southwest Florida
What actually goes wrong
01
The work was wrong, or the client says it was.
A filing missed, a number transposed, a specification that did not perform, a recommendation that cost the client money. There was no injury and nothing was physically damaged, which is exactly why general liability does not respond. Errors and omissions is the policy that does, and for most professional firms it is the single most important coverage they buy.
02
The claim arrives three years after the work.
Professional liability is almost always written claims-made, meaning it responds to claims reported during the policy period rather than to work done during it. That makes your retroactive date one of the most important numbers on your policy. Switching carriers carelessly, or letting coverage lapse for a month between policies, can erase years of prior work from coverage in a way that is nearly impossible to fix afterward.
03
Someone impersonates you and moves money.
A spoofed email from a partner, a fraudulent change of banking instructions, a wire that goes out on Friday afternoon. Standard crime coverage frequently excludes transfers an employee made voluntarily, even under deception. The coverage that responds is a social engineering or funds transfer fraud endorsement, and it has to be asked for by name.
04
Client data leaves the building.
You hold financial records, personal information, designs, credentials, or access to your clients' systems. A breach means notification obligations, forensics, downtime, and — if you are an IT or managed service provider — potential liability for every client whose systems ran through yours.
05
An employee sues.
Wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, retaliation. Employment practices claims are frequent, expensive to defend, and excluded from general liability. Professional firms with fewer than twenty employees are not exempt from this; they are simply less likely to have the coverage.
06
Your landlord's lease asks for coverage you do not carry.
Every January a certificate request arrives with limits, additional insured wording, waiver of subrogation and sometimes an umbrella requirement. It is a routine problem with a routine solution, provided somebody reads the lease before it is signed.
What the program looks like
The foundation
General liability
The visitor who falls in your office, damage you cause at a client's site. It does not cover professional advice.
Commercial property
Computers, servers, furniture, and the tenant improvements you paid for. Include equipment at employees' homes if your team works remotely, because standard property coverage stops at the described premises.
Workers' compensation
Florida's non-construction requirement generally begins at four employees, including part-time.
Commercial auto
Mostly hired and non-owned in this class, for staff driving personal vehicles to client sites.
Commercial umbrella
Extra limits, and increasingly a line item in client contracts and office leases.
What gets added on top
- Professional liability / errors and omissions — the core coverage in this industry. Written claims-made, with a retroactive date that matters enormously
- Cyber liability — first-party response costs and third-party liability, including regulatory and notification expense
- Technology E&O — for IT firms and MSPs, where professional and cyber exposures overlap and a combined form usually works better than two separate ones
- Social engineering / funds transfer fraud — the wire fraud endorsement
- Employment practices liability — the most common claim source for firms with employees
- Directors and officers — for private companies with boards, outside investors, or partnership structures
- Fidelity and crime — particularly for anyone holding client funds
- Media liability — for agencies and creative firms producing content on behalf of clients
- Business income — including dependent business income if your operations rely on a vendor or platform
What makes this harder in Florida
01
Hurricane closure without physical damage generally is not a claim.
02
Remote and hybrid staff move your property off the schedule.
03
Licensing boards may set your requirements.
04
Your seasonal client base is a business income question.
What we need to quote it
No cost, no obligation. If your current program is already doing its job we will tell you that.
Current declarations pages for every policy, including existing E&O and cyber
The retroactive date on your current professional liability policy, which is the single most important item on this list
Loss runs and any prior claims, complaints or circumstances that could become claims
Annual revenue, and the split by service line
A description of what you actually do, in plain language, including anything you would call unusual for your industry
Employee count and payroll, including contractors and remote staff
Your largest single client as a percentage of revenue
Whether you hold client funds or have authority to move money
What client data you hold and where it lives
Standard client contract or engagement letter, if you can share it
Office lease insurance requirements
Professional liability questions
More commercial questions are answered on our business FAQs page.
Send us your declarations pages. We will tell you what is missing.
Three offices, one commercial team. We will read the retroactive date, the exclusions and the client contract, and tell you plainly where you stand.