Finding affordable professional liability insurance for independent consultants?

May 5, 2010 10:07 PM

I have some upcoming consulting work (report preparation, technical writing, some systems architecture -- all for work related to a planning grant), and a large research university is handling the contract. In filling out the institution's "supplier information form," they requested information about liability insurance. I don't quite know where to start in following up on this, so I suppose I'm looking for recommendations about affordable options from currently insured independent consultants doing similar work.

For what it's worth, the project leads haven't given me any recommendations about amounts or the extent to which this is actually required. Also, I'll be working from home, with the exception of one meeting that's actually hosted by a different institution than the one handling the paperwork. I'm an individual consultant; I'm not incorporated in any way. All past work has been less, err, formal, and I've never had professional liability insurance in any form.

The one previous question I found that directly related to this was for Australia, and I'm based in the US.

posted by anarchivist to work & money (3 answers total)

I used TechInsurance.com when I did IT contracting work that required professional liability insurance. I'm also an individual consultant, working from home.

Pricing seemed reasonable (they're an insurance broker, and you'll wind up with a policy written by, say, The Hartford), and the application process, if I recall, was pretty easy. Of course, I haven't had to use the insurance, so I don't personal experience in how good the coverage is, or how it would work. But, since it's from an insurance company I've heard of, I'm not that worried.
posted by chengjih at 3:05 AM on May 6, 2010

I have professional liability insurance from The Hartford. It's to cover the possibility that someone will be injured in my home office or in my car when I am using it for business purposes. That's a pretty unlikely possibility and so the cost of the policy is just a few hundred bucks a year. It's a deductible business expense.
posted by woot at 4:08 AM on May 6, 2010

I went with TechInsurance. Incredibly fast turn around time, and yeah, another policy through The Hartford.
posted by anarchivist at 7:47 PM on May 6, 2010