Top 4 Insurance Coverages to Consider as a Consultant
AUG 2021 | 4-5 min. read.

A key component of long-term success as an independent, self-employed consultant or consulting business, is having the right commercial insurance.
For incidents both within and outside your control, the right insurance for consultants protects both your business and personal assets. In fact, based on recent surveys of Canadian Lawyers, dealing with a lawsuit (or potential lawsuit) – from just obtaining traditional legal advice, to litigation process, all the way through to trial – can cost upwards of $10,000 to $25,000 [1]. This would be for just uncomplicated allegations. Regardless of whether you did anything wrong or would be found at fault, liability insurance helps cover the steep costs of defending yourself and your business.
It’s so important that consultants get the right insurance that’s reflective of the risks your business faces. At Collis Insurance we provide Online Insurance Quotes for Consultant Insurance that’s low-cost while providing the right protection for your business.
To understand what business insurance you really need as a consultant in Canada, keep reading!
Professional Liability
Professional Liability Insurance for consultants is a must-have! No matter the specialty, consultants are held to a higher standard due to being a trusted source of recommendations and advice. Even a minor mistake or an oversight can set off a chain reaction which could ultimately cause your client to lose income and come back to you / your business to recover the loss.
Common examples of professional liability claims against consultants that could lead to a financial loss for a client include:
- Missing a deadline
- Suggesting a course of action/strategy/person that doesn’t lead to the desired result.
- Unexpected costs in a proposed project
- Forgetting something or failing to provide service/advice
Consider: You create a report for a client recommending a plan, why, and possible results. The client doesn’t execute the plan as you expected – and they sue you for faulty advice.
Depending on the allegations, with professional liability insurance for consultants, you can cover the legal expenses necessary to defend yourself and your business for the allegations of errors in your work. If the court agrees, the insurance may also pay the judgment, or a portion of it, as well.
Commercial General Liability
Ever come across news stories of people accidentally spilling burning hot coffee on themselves and suing the coffee shop? Or spilling coffee on a client’s laptop? These instances, and many more, are why general liability insurance is important to have. This policy helps cover legal fees due to unexpected accidents related to a client’s personal injury, bodily injury, or property damage.
As a consultant, Commercial General Liability is especially recommended if you:
- Have customers that visit your place of business.
- Serve your clients at their property.
- Rent space
- Advertise
- Sign contracts with clients
Consider: A client visits you at your office and on their way up the stairs, they fall and injure themselves. They file a bodily injury lawsuit and your insurer defends the suit and pays the legal expenses. Secondarily, with general liability insurance for consultants, the policy will pay on your behalf the amount awarded for your negligence.
Property Coverage
Most consultants have property of some kind, whether that’s a computer, electronics, office furniture, or tenant improvements at your physical location. Loss or damage of these assets (in whole or in part) due to a fire, theft, or water damage for example can have negative impacts on your business’ ability to continue operations.
Property coverage is there to provide funds to help repair or replace damaged contents/equipment, so you can get back to running your business.
Cyber or Privacy & Security Breach Coverage
More and more consultants now collect and store clients’ information via cloud storage, and use their personal devices for work. Whether you store sensitive information such as personal contact info, health info, or credit card numbers, cyber insurance is becoming increasingly important to have. These circumstances increase the risk of a cyber-attack leading to a costly and time-demanding detailed response.
With cyber insurance or privacy and security breach coverage, consultants can save financially on legal fees, time, and reputation.
Consider: A cyber hacker gains access to your cloud storage containing the names, addresses, and credit card numbers of your customers.
With privacy and security breach coverage, a group of experts quickly create and help you implement a breach response strategy and plan to protect your business and assist your clients. These responses help mitigate the harsh impacts of a breach, protect your professional reputation, and reduces your financial loss.
Ultimately, having the proper types of business insurance for consultants protects the short-term and long-term success of your business if something goes wrong.
You might be wondering how much these types of insurance may cost you…
The good news is that Collis Insurance can combine some or all the coverages above into one low-cost package. Collis’ Online Insurance Quote Tool is designed specifically for smaller independent consultants up to consulting businesses under 20 employees in Alberta.
Start by answering a few questions about your business, receive a customized quote, pay, and receive your policy documents for Consultant Insurance in 5 – 10 minutes!
To learn more about your risks as a consultant, and how insurance can help you meet your contractual obligations and protect your business – please contact Collis Insurance. Legal Expense Insurance is another coverage to consider that our brokers can guide you to purchase traditionally.
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Do Consultants need Insurance?
Although Insurance for consultants is not mandatory by law, it’s important to have since clients/customers can still sue you for claims of negligence or failure to render professional services. The expenses and fees can amass quickly which can put your business at risk.
Additionally, business insurance will help you meet your contractual obligations with your clients. The bigger the clients you deal with, the more often you will run up against clients requiring your business to have a variety of insurance coverages.
How much does Insurance for Consultants cost?
Cost for General Liability or Professional Liability insurance is dependent on a variety of factors, some of which include your specific industry & operations, the size of your business, experience, training, and your business’s annual revenue.
Our Online Insurance for Consultants cost is also dependent on which limits of insurance you select, making it possible for you to customize based on your budget and business’ needs.
What kind of Consultants need Business Insurance?
Ultimately, any consultant providing professional services, giving opinions, making recommendations, writing reports, or creating plans, including but not limited to (in alphabetical order):
- Access Consultant
- Acoustic Consultant
- Alternate Dispute Resolution Services
- Arbitrator
- Background Check Services
- Business Analyst
- Business and Management Consultant
- Business Process Re-Engineering Consultant
- Call Centre
- Career Advisor
- Change Management Consultant
- Court Reporter
- Data Analyst
- Document Preparer
- Education Consultant
- Employment Consultant (No Placements)
- Escrow Agent
- Expert Witness
- Feng Shui Consultant
- Forensic Experts
- Fundraising Consultant
- Higher Education Consultant
- Hotel and Catering Consultant
- Human Resources Consultant
- Image Consultant
- Inbound Telephone Services
- Language Consultant
- Life/Career/Executive Coach
- Loss Adjuster
- Management Consultant (No M&A)
- Management Training
- Marketing and Advertising Consultant
- Market Researcher
- Mediator
- Meeting Planner
- Music Therapist
- Occupational Health Consultant
- Occupational Therapist
- Outbound Telephone Services
- Payroll Processor (non-tech)
- Personal Assistant
- Personal Concierge
- Personal Counsellor
- Personnel Consultant
- Photographer
- Professional Employer Organization (“PEO”)
- Proofreader
- Public Relations Consultant
- Research Consultant
- Resume Consultant
- Sales/Marketing/PR Consultant
- Social Worker
- Speech Therapist
- Statistics / Statistician
- Telecommunications Consultant
- Technical Author
- Telemarketer
- Theologist
- Title Searcher
- Tutor
- Training Consultant
- Transcriber
- Translator
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