Miscellaneous professional liability insurance
Miscellaneous professional liability insurance is a form of professional liability that protects unique, non-traditional, or emerging businesses against client claims of unsatisfactory work.
- What is miscellaneous professional liability (MPL) insurance?
- What does miscellaneous professional liability cover?
- How much does miscellaneous professional liability insurance cost?
- Who needs MPL coverage?
- What does MPL not cover?
- Miscellaneous professional liability insurance vs. standard coverage
- How do I get miscellaneous professional liability insurance?
What is miscellaneous professional liability (MPL) insurance?
Miscellaneous professional liability insurance (MPL) is a type of professional liability insurance for less traditional professions.
Also called errors and omissions insurance (E&O), professional indemnity insurance, or malpractice insurance, standard professional liability coverage is designed for heavily regulated industries like medicine, law, and finance, while MPL is a catchall policy that offers the same coverage for a broader range of professional service firms.
Why is it called miscellaneous professional liability?
The "miscellaneous" in the name refers to the wide variety of professions it covers. Unlike standard professional liability policies, which are tailored to specific industries like medicine or law, miscellaneous insurance is designed for businesses that don't fit neatly into those traditional categories.
What does miscellaneous professional liability cover?
As a form of professional liability insurance, miscellaneous professional liability coverage protects non-traditional businesses against client lawsuits over unsatisfactory work, as well as:
- Mistakes and oversights
- Incomplete or substandard work
- Poor professional advice
- Unintentional misrepresentation
- Missed deadlines
Misc professional liability will cover your legal expenses, including attorney’s fees, settlements, and judgments, even if you’re not at fault, or if an MPL claim is deemed groundless or fraudulent.
How much does miscellaneous professional liability insurance cost?
The average cost of professional liability insurance is $88 per month. Nearly half of Insureon's customers pay less than $75 per month for this coverage, though annual premiums typically range from around $400 to over $7,000 per year.
The majority of Insureon's customers (63%) choose professional liability policies with limits of:
- $1 million per-occurrence limit
- $1 million aggregate limit
However, rates are typically lower for miscellaneous professional liability insurance, since it’s designed for lower-risk businesses. Your premium depends on the limits and deductible you choose, among other factors.
Who needs MPL coverage?
Miscellaneous professional liability insurance is designed for businesses that don’t fit into traditional, heavily regulated industries like healthcare, law, and architectural design.
These professions can include:
Top professions we insure
What does MPL not cover?
While a miscellaneous professional liability policy covers many lawsuit-related costs, it does have exclusions. For example, it only covers the costs to defend yourself against third-party lawsuits, but it won't pay for lawsuits you initiate.
And, unless your policy has prior acts coverage, MPL will only cover professional liability claims filed during the policy period and incidents that occur after you bought the policy.
Other exclusions from misc professional liability insurance coverage include:
- Customer bodily injuries and property damage
- Employee injuries
- Employee discrimination lawsuits
- Illegal activity
- Harm caused by a product
How does miscellaneous professional liability insurance differ from standard coverage?
Professional liability insurance is designed for specific professions with established standards of care, like physicians, attorneys, architects, engineers, and CPAs.
Standard coverage is highly tailored to these industries’ unique professional liability risks and regulations, and policies typically have profession-specific policy language, endorsements, and exclusions.
Miscellaneous professional liability insurance is a catchall E&O policy for professional service providers who don’t neatly fit into a standard professional liability category, such as staffing firms, interior designers, and social media managers. Policy language is more generalized, covering a broader range of professional services.
| Standard professional liability | Misc. professional liability | |
|---|---|---|
Targeted coverage | Yes, designed for heavily regulated fields | Catchall for niche, emerging, or service-based businesses |
Designed for | Travel agents, property managers, collection agents, executive recruiters | |
Core coverage | Third-party claims alleging financial loss due to professional negligence, missed deadlines, errors, or omissions. | Identical coverage structured for unclassified professions |
Policy customization | Highly customized with strict, industry-specific definitions of professional services | Broad-form catchall design that’s easily adaptable with endorsements |
Regulatory compliance | Typically requires explicit professional certification, formal degrees, or state licensing | Often covers non-licensed professional services or creative work where standard E&O forms don’t apply |
Do I need general liability insurance if I have MPL coverage?
General liability insurance and miscellaneous professional liability cover very different types of small business risk exposures.
- Client bodily injuries: If a client slips and falls at your business, general liability will cover their medical expenses and your legal defense fees.
- Customer property damage: If you accidentally damage a customer’s property, general liability will handle repair costs.
- Product liability: Most general liability policies include product liability insurance, which covers defective products, food contamination, labeling errors, and other product liabilities that could harm a customer.
- Personal and advertising injuries: If you’re sued for libel, slander, or copyright infringement, general liability will pay legal defense costs, including court fees and any resulting settlement or judgment.
Your small business should carry both policies if you offer professional services and at least one of the following is true:
- You handle or visit client property
- You make or sell products
- You use social media or advertise your business
- People other than employees (clients, delivery people, etc.) visit your business
To save money on coverage, many small businesses purchase a business owner's policy (BOP). A BOP bundles general liability insurance with commercial property insurance at a lower cost than buying the policies individually. Professional liability is typically available as a BOP endorsement, letting you bundle all three coverages in a more cost-effective package.
How do I get miscellaneous professional liability insurance?
Insureon’s licensed insurance agents can help you secure affordable insurance coverage for all of your small business needs. With just one easy online application, you can compare quotes for miscellaneous professional liability coverage from our top-rated insurance partners.
Once you find the right policies, you can typically begin coverage and get a certificate of insurance (COI) for your small business in less than 24 hours.
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