Posted on: January 21, 2026 by Huntersure
The beginning of the year is a time for budgeting and bid planning. It’s also an ideal moment for insurance agents to help contractor clients reassess their risk strategy, including a review of professional liability insurance for contractors.
Many businesses rely on general liability as a catchall, but it does not address professional risk. When services evolve, professional liability coverage can fall out of step with current operations. Agents who engage early can identify gaps and help prevent disputes before they turn into claims.
Contractors may confuse professional liability with general liability, which is where problems often begin. General liability covers third-party bodily injury or property damage. Professional liability insurance for contractors, also known as errors and omissions (E&O), covers financial losses resulting from errors in service delivery.
For example, if a design-build contractor submits flawed plans that delay a project and increase costs, there may be no physical damage. But the client still experiences a financial loss. That claim would fall under professional liability coverage, not general liability.
Helping clients understand this difference early makes it easier for them to see the policy’s value.
Contractor services evolve year after year. Many firms expand into consulting, design coordination, value engineering, or construction management. Others take on advisory responsibilities during preconstruction or work more closely with owners and developers. Each of these changes can introduce professional liability exposure.
A common question contractors ask is whether new services are automatically covered. In most cases, they’re not. Coverage depends on how services are described in the policy and whether endorsements were added.
It’s important to review contracts and scopes annually. If a contractor agrees to take on professional responsibilities in a client agreement but the policy was never updated, the insurer could deny the claim.
The start of the year naturally aligns with contractor planning. Contractors send bids, negotiate contracts, and select project delivery methods. This timing makes it the best opportunity to confirm that insurance aligns with those plans.
Agents should review retroactive dates, exclusions, and recent claims history. Because many professional liability policies are claims-made, a gap in coverage can reset the retroactive date, eliminating protection for prior acts.
Another overlooked exposure involves professional services performed by subcontractors or assumed by the contractor through design-build or delegated design responsibilities. Delegated design, consulting, or preconstruction responsibilities can trigger professional liability claims, even when those services sit outside traditional construction roles. A policy review helps ensure definitions, exclusions, and vicarious liability provisions align with how projects actually operate.
Yearly reviews do more than find coverage gaps. They build trust and reinforce the agent’s value.
When agents help contractors navigate service changes, evolving contract terms, and insurance language, they reinforce their value. They also strengthen client relationships while helping protect businesses from avoidable exposures.
Huntersure supports this proactive approach with a professional liability program tailored to contractor exposures. Coverage includes protection for professional negligence, mitigation of loss costs, contingent coverage for subcontractors with inadequate insurance, and optional pollution liability. The program also features flexible limits, extended reporting periods, project-specific options, and pre-claims assistance.
Starting the year with a structured review allows agents to deliver clarity, reduce uncertainty, and support contractors as projects become more complex. So, encourage your contractor clients to review their professional liability policies early. Partner with Huntersure to provide coverage solutions that align with how construction work is actually performed today.
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.
