Posted on: August 19, 2026 by Huntersure
Technical consultants routinely work with data supplied by owners, laboratories, subconsultants, and other professionals. When that information is inaccurate, determining responsibility can become complicated. The issue also has implications for professional liability coverage.
When reviewing professional liability insurance for technical consultants, an important question is: What responsibility does the consultant assume when evaluating, interpreting, or incorporating information supplied by someone else?
Inaccurate data alone does not establish negligence. However, relying on faulty information may raise liability questions, depending on the consultant’s scope of services and professional responsibilities.
Engineering and testing consultants depend on technical information from several project participants. That information may support calculations, recommendations, reports, designs, inspections, or other professional deliverables.
Problems may develop when the furnished data is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated:
Contracts can define what information a consultant may rely on and who is responsible for certain project risks. The American Society of Civil Engineers, for example, discusses contractual tools for allocating risks related to uncertain subsurface conditions.
The consultant’s scope of services and professional duties also help determine whether reliance on faulty data could lead to liability.
For agents, the coverage review should begin with the consultant’s professional services. What work does the consultant perform, and how does furnished data factor into that work? Huntersure’s professional liability application, for example, asks applicants to describe the professional services for which they seek coverage.
Agents should also consider how an error involving furnished data could lead to a claim. If a professional error could result in bodily injury or property damage, contingent bodily injury and property damage coverage may be relevant, subject to the policy’s terms and exclusions.
For work tied to a specific engineering, testing, or inspection engagement, project-specific coverage may be another option. Terms and structures vary by insurer and project.
The goal is to match the coverage structure to the consultant’s work, potential exposures, and contractual requirements.
Before binding coverage, agents should understand how furnished data moves through the consultant’s work:
Together, the answers can help clarify the consultant’s exposure and whether the application and description of services accurately reflect the work being performed.
When furnished data contributes to a problem, knowing its original source tells only part of the story. Agents should also examine what professional responsibility the consultant assumed when using that information.
Before placement or renewal of insurance for technical consultants, review data dependencies, contractual requirements, and project-specific exposures against the consultant’s described professional services. A careful review helps agents present the risk accurately and identify coverage considerations that deserve closer attention.
ABOUT HUNTERSURE
Huntersure LLC is a full-service Managing General Agency that has provided insurance program administration for professional liability products to our partners across the United States since 2007. We specialize in providing insurance solutions for businesses of all sizes. Our program features can cover small firms (grossing $2.5 million annually) to large corporations (grossing $25 million annually or more). We make doing business with us easy with our breadth and depth of knowledge of E&O insurance, our proprietary underwriting system that allows for responsive quoting, binding, and policy issuance and tailored products to meet the needs of your insureds. Give us a call at (855) 585-6255 to learn more.
Posted in: Professional Liability
