Errors & Omissions insurance for Surrey professionals who get paid for their advice.
Consultants, agencies, IT services, bookkeepers, designers, coaches — and regulated professionals looking for top-up coverage above an association program. When a client sues because your advice or service caused them a loss, a CGL policy generally isn't designed to respond to that kind of pure financial-loss claim — E&O is the coverage normally reviewed for it. Family-owned brokerage since 1994.
Renewal coming up? Text us: 604-837-8710. Walk-ins welcome at 150-8888 152A St, Surrey.
If a client pays you for advice, strategy, or a professional service — and something you recommended causes them a financial loss — a CGL policy generally won't be the one that responds. That's what E&O is built for.
Commercial General Liability covers physical injury and physical property damage. It doesn't cover a client's financial loss from bad advice, a missed deadline, a report that contained an error, or a recommendation that didn't work out. That exposure is what Errors & Omissions insurance — also called Professional Liability — exists to cover.
We've been writing E&O policies in Fleetwood since 1994 for consultants, marketing agencies, IT service providers, bookkeepers, designers, business coaches, and professionals across the Lower Mainland. Every policy gets sized against the kind of advice being given, the size of the engagement, and the realistic worst-case loss if something goes sideways.
Who we insure
- Consultants & advisors Business, strategy, management
- Marketing & advertising agencies Creative services, digital, PR
- IT service providers MSPs, software, implementation
- Bookkeepers & tax preparers Non-CPA bookkeeping services
- Designers & architects of service Interior, graphic, UX, consulting
- Business coaches & trainers Executive, sales, professional dev
A note about regulated professions
Lawyers (Law Society of BC), accountants (CPABC), engineers and geoscientists (EGBC), notaries (Society of Notaries Public of BC), real estate licensees, and mortgage brokers typically carry mandatory E&O through their regulatory association's program. If you're in one of these professions, your association's program is your primary E&O — and that's how it should be.
Where we help: top-up coverage above the association limit, coverage for services outside the scope of the mandatory program, coverage gaps during membership transitions, and the rest of your commercial insurance — office property, cyber liability, commercial general liability, and commercial auto. If you have questions about how your association program fits with the rest of your commercial coverage for Surrey businesses, that's a conversation we're happy to have.
The strategy was signed off. The campaign ran. Revenue dropped. Six months later, the invoice arrives — from the client's lawyer, not the client.
Here's a scene played out across the consulting world more often than anyone wants to admit. A Surrey marketing consultant is retained by a mid-sized business to develop and implement a go-to-market strategy. Research is done. A strategy document is written and approved. A campaign is launched. The business spends significant money executing.
And the revenue doesn't come. Worse, the campaign may have alienated existing customers, eaten through marketing budget, and cost the business months of momentum. Six months later, the consultant receives a letter. The client is alleging that the strategy was professionally negligent — that a competent consultant should have flagged specific risks, recommended against the approach, or identified obvious problems with the research. They're claiming financial loss in the six figures and seeking recovery.
Here's what most consultants don't realize until it happens: a CGL policy generally isn't designed to respond to this. CGL responds to physical injuries and physical property damage. A client's lost revenue from following advice is purely financial loss. That's the kind of exposure Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance is designed to cover — and it's why professional service businesses generally shouldn't rely on CGL alone.
Most professional liability claims don't go to trial. They settle. But "settle" still costs real money — plus the legal fees getting there, which can run into six figures on their own. E&O covers both. Without it, the cost of fighting a claim comes out of the business's operating account, then the owner's savings.
What this story teaches
If a client pays you for professional services and those services could cause the client a financial loss, you have E&O exposure. It doesn't matter whether you're an established consultancy or a solo operator running out of a home office. The claim that arrives is the same — and a CGL policy generally won't respond to it. A 15-minute review tells you whether E&O is the right coverage for your business and what limits make sense for the kind of work you do.
Illustrative scenario drawn from common professional liability loss patterns. Details don't reflect any specific Prime client or event. Every claim is different — past outcomes aren't a guarantee of future results.
CGL and E&O cover completely different kinds of claims. You likely need both.
Most professionals buy a Commercial General Liability policy and assume that's their "business liability insurance." It isn't — not for advice-based businesses. Here's the distinction that matters.
Commercial General Liability (CGL)
Covers bodily injury and physical property damage.
- A client slips and falls at your office
- You damage a client's property while on-site
- Your business causes a physical injury to a third party
- Required by most commercial leases
- Does NOT cover financial loss from advice or service errors
Errors & Omissions (E&O)
Covers financial loss from your advice or service.
- A strategy recommendation that caused a business loss
- An error in a report, filing, or deliverable
- A missed deadline that cost the client money
- Software that didn't perform as specified
- Legal defence costs — often larger than the claim itself
Your client trips at a meeting at your office? CGL pays. Your client claims your strategy cost them $200,000 in lost revenue? E&O pays. Completely different events, completely different policies. Most advice-based businesses should have both.
Six coverages professional service businesses in Surrey should have explained.
Every advisory business is different. But most need most of these — and the conversation starts with what you actually do for clients and where the realistic exposure sits.
Errors & Omissions (E&O)
Professional liability. Covers financial loss claims from clients, plus legal defence. Limits typically $1M to $5M depending on engagement size, client sophistication, and the realistic worst case. Sized against your work, not a default.
Commercial General Liability (CGL)
Physical injury and physical property damage. Required by most commercial landlords. Usually paired with E&O — neither replaces the other. $2M is a common baseline.
Cyber Liability
Data breaches, ransomware, client information compromised. Increasingly required by clients and essential for any business that holds client data, email, or financial information. Often bundled with E&O on some policies; sometimes sold separately.
Office Property & Equipment
Your office space, computers, furniture, inventory. For home-office professionals, most homeowner policies do NOT cover business equipment — a separate or endorsed coverage is usually needed.
Business Interruption
Lost income when a covered event forces the business to close or pause. Often under-considered by professional services because "we can work remotely" — but a cyber event or a court action can interrupt operations substantially.
Directors & Officers (D&O)
For firms with a board or partners, covers claims against individual directors or officers arising from management decisions. Separate from E&O. Increasingly relevant for growing professional firms.
Five ways a professional-services policy collapses at claim time.
The problem is rarely having no insurance. The problem is having coverage that isn't set up properly. These are real failure patterns we've seen with Surrey professional services. Each one is preventable with a 15-minute review.
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CGL was purchased; E&O wasn't
The business bought what the landlord required — CGL. Nobody explained that financial-loss claims from clients aren't covered by CGL. A client sues for losses from advice. The claim is denied. This is the single most common professional-services coverage gap we see.
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E&O retroactive date doesn't cover old work
You switch insurers or buy E&O for the first time. The retroactive date is set to today. A client sues six months later about a project you delivered two years ago. Coverage doesn't respond because the work happened before the retroactive date. Preserving an appropriate retroactive date at placement is essential.
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Policy is "claims-made" and expired before the claim arrived
E&O policies are usually written on a claims-made basis — meaning the policy generally responds only if the claim is first made against you and reported during the policy period (or an Extended Reporting Period), and the work happened on or after the policy's retroactive date. If you let coverage lapse or switch insurers without an ERP (also called "tail coverage"), claims arriving after the policy ends may not be covered. Critical for retiring professionals and for anyone selling or winding down a practice.
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Services performed fall outside the policy's definition of "professional services"
Your policy covers "marketing consulting services." You expanded into website development. A client claims the website didn't meet specs. If the policy's definition of covered services doesn't include web development, coverage may not apply. When your services expand, the policy definition needs to expand with them.
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Limits were sized against your last engagement, not your biggest one
Your E&O limit is $1M. Most of your engagements are $15,000 retainers. Then you take on a six-month project worth $150,000 with a client whose business does $10M in revenue. If your advice caused a loss disproportionate to your fee, the claim can dwarf your E&O limit. Size against realistic worst-case exposure from your biggest clients.
Four wording details that can change how your E&O responds at claim time.
Two policies can both say "Errors & Omissions" on the cover and behave very differently when a claim actually lands. These are the details that rarely move the premium much — but change everything about what the policy does under pressure. They're the heart of what a coverage review looks at.
Do defence costs erode your limit?
On many E&O policies, legal defence costs are paid inside the policy limit — every dollar spent defending you reduces what's left for a settlement or judgment. On others, defence is paid in addition to the limit. For professional liability, where defence often costs more than the claim itself, this is one of the single most important wording checks. It depends entirely on the policy wording.
Duty to defend, or reimbursement?
Some insurers have a duty to defend — they appoint and pay for legal counsel from the first report, and run the defence. Others reimburse defence costs you incur, which can give you more say in choosing counsel but means money moves differently and you may carry costs up front. Worth knowing before a demand letter arrives, not after.
Retroactive date and prior acts
The retroactive date sets how far back your covered work reaches. Where prior-acts coverage is included, older work may be covered subject to the policy wording, exclusions, application disclosures, and reporting requirements; a recent retroactive date means older work may not be covered at all. Preserving an appropriate retroactive date when you switch insurers is one of the easiest things to get wrong and one of the costliest.
Who controls a settlement?
Some policies let the insurer settle a claim without your agreement; others require your consent before settling. Where a "consent-to-settle" provision exists, it may come with a clause that caps the insurer's contribution if you refuse a settlement they recommend. For a professional whose reputation rides on the outcome, knowing where you stand here matters.
At purchase, most E&O policies look alike. These four details are where they stop looking alike — and a 15-minute review is where we walk through which way your policy actually reads. Coverage in every case is subject to the policy wording, exclusions, and insurer terms.
You work with a named commercial advisor — not a call queue.
Professional liability turns on policy wording, and wording is read by people, not call centres. At Prime, your E&O review is handled by one of our senior commercial advisors, by name. Here's who you'll be dealing with.
Mark CAIB, Level 2 · Commercial & Personal Lines Advisor
In insurance since 1990. Mark's depth is in commercial lines — including bonding and construction risks — and policy-wording questions tend to land on his desk. When a clause needs untangling, it's often Mark who untangles it.
Kuljeet BBA, CAIB, Level 2 · All Lines
Kul's elder son, full-time with Prime since 2002 and licensed the same year. More than two decades across Autoplan, personal lines, and commercial, with a long-standing client base of his own.
Seema MBA, CAIB, Level 2 · Commercial & Personal Lines
Licensed since 2017, with Prime since 2021. Works across Autoplan, personal lines, and commercial, and is usually first to step in where a file needs attention.
Deep Level 2 · Commercial & Personal Lines
Nine years of insurance experience across Autoplan, personal lines, and commercial. Licensed since 2017. Quietly capable, low-ego, and thorough on the details that matter.
Between them, the commercial team works in ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi) and हिन्दी (Hindi) as well as English — so you can have your policy wording explained in the language you're most comfortable in.
Book a 15-Minute Professional Services Coverage Review.
We sit down with your current policy. E&O limit and definition of services. Retroactive date. CGL scope. Cyber liability. Office property. Extended Reporting Period provisions.
Within 2 business days, once we have your current policy and complete information, you get a plain-English gap summary, a side-by-side comparison against competing options in the market, and a written recommendation. You keep all of it — even if you don't switch.
No obligation. No sales pressure. No commitment to switch.
Three written commitments professional-services owners care about.
When a client's lawyer sends a demand letter you don't want a national call centre. When a new client requires proof of professional liability before signing you don't want to wait days. Here's what we put in writing.
Our Claim-Support Commitment
When something goes wrong, one of our advisors — preferably the advisor who placed your coverage, or a senior commercial advisor — stays involved with the adjuster, helps you report the claim, and keeps you updated through to claim resolution. You work directly with a named advisor, not a national call-centre queue.
2-Hour CoI Service Commitment
Existing commercial clients with active policies: your Certificate of Insurance is prioritized for delivery within 2 business hours during commercial desk hours (Mon–Fri 8:30am–6pm), once complete information is provided. Commercial CoIs often involve multiple sections, multiple policy numbers, and specific named-additional-insureds — 2 hours lets us build it right the first time.
15-Minute Coverage Review
A side-by-side comparison of your current policy against competing options in the market, plus a plain-English gap summary. You keep the written recommendation even if you don't switch. No obligation.
Answers in plain English.
What's the difference between CGL and E&O?
CGL (Commercial General Liability) covers bodily injury and physical property damage caused by your business. A client falls at your office, a shopping basket causes an injury, your signage blows over and damages a car — CGL responds. E&O (Errors & Omissions, also called Professional Liability) covers financial loss caused by your advice, service, or professional work. A strategy that cost the client revenue, a report with an error, a missed filing deadline. Completely different claims, completely different policies. Advice-based businesses usually need both.
I'm a lawyer / CPA / engineer / notary. Do I still need E&O from Prime?
Usually your primary E&O comes through your association's mandatory program — Law Society of BC for lawyers, CPABC for accountants, Engineers and Geoscientists BC, Society of Notaries Public of BC, and similar programs for real estate licensees and mortgage brokers. That program is your core coverage. Where we can help: top-up coverage above your association limit if your practice needs higher, coverage for services outside the scope of the mandatory program, coverage gaps during transitions between firms or associations, and the rest of your commercial insurance — office property, CGL, cyber, commercial auto, and life/health. Happy to walk through whether any of that applies.
How is E&O priced? What does it cost?
Pricing depends on a few things: what kind of services you provide (higher-risk service types have higher premiums), your annual revenue, the size of your biggest engagements, your limit, your deductible, and your claims history. A solo consultant with modest engagements and a $1M limit is a different animal than a 20-person agency with enterprise clients and a $5M limit. We quote specifically to your situation — which is exactly what the 15-minute review produces.
What's a "claims-made" policy and why should I care?
Most E&O policies are written on a "claims-made" basis — meaning the policy generally responds only if the claim is first made against you and reported to the insurer during the policy period (or an Extended Reporting Period), and the alleged error happened on or after the policy's retroactive date. The policy does not need to have been active when you did the work — but it does need to be active (or an ERP in place) when the claim comes in. This is why maintaining continuous coverage matters, and why "tail coverage" (ERP) is essential when you retire, sell your practice, or change insurers. Exact coverage depends on the policy wording — worth discussing every time a policy changes.
I work from a home office. Does my home insurance cover my business equipment?
Usually no. Most standard homeowner or tenant insurance policies specifically exclude business equipment used for commercial purposes, or cap the coverage at a very low amount ($1,500 to $5,000 is common). Your laptops, monitors, office furniture, and any specialized equipment for the business need separate coverage — either an endorsement on your home policy or a small commercial property policy. Ask when we review — easy to fix, hard to recover if missed after a loss.
How fast can I get a Certificate of Insurance for a new client?
For existing Prime commercial clients with active policies: within 2 business hours, during commercial desk hours (Monday to Friday, 8:30am–6pm), once we have complete information. For new clients: same business day once we have complete information. Professional-services CoIs often list the end client and sometimes a procurement agency as additional insureds with specific limit confirmations. Two hours gives us time to build it right.
Do I need E&O if my clients haven't asked for it?
The clients asking for E&O tend to be the more sophisticated ones — larger corporations, procurement teams, government contracts, enterprise clients. Smaller clients often don't ask. But the claim exposure doesn't track what clients ask for — it tracks what happens when advice goes wrong. A client who didn't require E&O at engagement can absolutely sue you for professional negligence three years later. If your business gives advice or delivers professional services, E&O is worth having whether clients require it or not.
What if I had a professional liability claim at a previous firm?
Prior claims affect what insurers will offer and at what premium, but they don't automatically make you uninsurable. Specialty markets may be available for professionals with claims history, and the terms depend on what happened, how it was resolved, and your current work. Disclosure at application is essential — failing to disclose a prior claim can affect whether coverage applies later, depending on the policy wording and the facts. We walk through the questions carefully and look for available options that fit your profile.
Do you work with professionals who speak Punjabi or Hindi?
Yes. People on our Fleetwood team speak English, Punjabi, and Hindi every day. Coverage reviews, claims, Certificate of Insurance requests, or walking through the policy line by line — all of it can happen in your preferred language. Ask for Kul, Kuljeet, or Seema by name when you call.
I'm based in Vancouver / Langley / Richmond / Burnaby — do you only serve Surrey professionals?
We're based in Fleetwood, Surrey. The service isn't limited to Surrey. Our professional-services clients work out of Vancouver, Langley, Richmond, Burnaby, Coquitlam, White Rock, and across the Lower Mainland. Most of the work happens by phone, email, and virtual meeting anyway — geography is rarely the constraint.
Why does family-owned matter when I'm picking a brokerage?
Over the past decade, a lot of BC family brokers have been bought by national consolidators and insurance-company-owned networks. Prime hasn't. Same Shergill family. Same Fleetwood address. Same voices on the phone when a demand letter lands on your desk. You reach the same person who wrote the policy — not a queue at a call centre.
Real reviews. Real Prime clients.
Service is excellent. I have been using Prime Insurance for ALL our insurance needs, from quads and trailers, through auto, home, and commercial liability. Kul Jr. knows me by name from the sound of my voice (or call display 🤣) and that makes me feel like a valued customer!
If you need auto, home or business insurance go see Kul at Prime Insurance. They have a professional team of agents that can take care of all your insurance needs. Been using them for almost 10 years.
Kul is the best at Prime Insurance! He has helped me with my personal vehicle insurance and insurance for my many vehicles for my businesses. Kul is always available to answer my questions and is quick to help. I highly recommend them!
Book the 15-minute Professional Services Coverage Review.
E&O limit and scope of services. Retroactive date. Tail coverage provisions. CGL scope. Cyber liability. Office property. Competing options from the market. Written in plain English. You keep it.
Prime Insurance
150-8888 152A St, Surrey, BC V3R 0V7
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This page is general information only and is not a policy, binder, quote, or legal opinion. Coverage is subject to the actual policy wording, exclusions, limits, deductibles, retroactive date, reporting requirements, underwriting approval, and insurer terms. No coverage is bound, changed, renewed, or cancelled until confirmed in writing by a licensed insurance representative.