As a business consultant, you make a living by providing advice or services. By virtue of the business you are in, you are subject to, among others, lawsuits accusing you of giving bad advice, contract disputes over incomplete work or missed deadlines, lost or stolen laptops that expose your customers to lost records or data breaches, and damage to your office.

Further, depending on the size of your business, the nature of your practice, the location of your business, whether or not you work with staff, and the kind of assets you own, you are open to legal action, especially in today's litigious environment.

That's where business consultant insurance comes in. No matter your specialty, your business consultancy is going to need business consulting insurance. As you are hard at work for your clients, having this policy ensures that you are covered in the likely event that you end up in a legal tassel.

Let's look at a situation whereby you're working with a client that's trying to expand their operations. Now suppose the strategies you propose fail to work, and instead, the client's business ends up taking a big hit and, even worse, significant losses. There's quite the likelihood that the client will sue you and your business.

Without the right business consulting insurance, you risk having your business crash and burn. Add the mounting legal fees and possible settlements, and there's a likelihood that you might need to drain your savings and pay out of pocket. Fortunately, with business consultant insurance, you have someone else worrying about all of that.

Other than covering the legal fees and costs to defend your business, the policy caters to settlements and judgments awarded with the lawsuit. Overall, with the right coverage, even when a mistake occurs in the dispensing of your services, you are assured of some sort of cushion, thus protection for your consultancy business.

Concisely, seeing as a consultant, you face many day-to-day risks, having small business consulting insurance will ensure sufficient protection for your business.

Also read:

Business Consultant Liability Insurance

As you dispense your duties as a business consultant, there's a likelihood of claims against your business for third-party bodily injury, property damage, or personal and advertising injury. In such a scenario, you want to have at hand liability insurance for business consultants.

Business consultant liability insurance will cover any costs arising from these claims against your business. In the case of third-party bodily harm, the policy will cover the medical expenses, thus protecting you from having to pay out of pocket. Additionally, it covers all arising legal fees, which offers your business further cushioning in the event that a lawsuit is brought against your business.

E&O Insurance for Business Consultants

E&O insurance for business consultants is also referred to as professional liability insurance. The latter covers claims of mistakes, negligence, inadequate work, inaccuracies, misinterpretations, or any similar allegations.

As an industry practice, any business that offers customers services at a fee needs this professional liability insurance. This policy protects your business against client lawsuits that allege financial harm due to your performance or poor advice.

BOP for Business Consultants

Additional policies that you ought to consider include the business owner's policy. The latter, often abbreviated as BOP, is a bundle that includes two separate insurance policies-general liability insurance and commercial property insurance.

While general liability protects your business against third-party liability lawsuits, commercial property insurance caters to repairs or replacement of damaged or stolen business property. This policy covers the physical office space and storefront as well as additional inventory and electronics.

It is prudent to mention that not all consulting businesses will qualify for a BOP. Your business is only eligible if it:

Has less than 100 employees
Operates in a low-risk industry
Makes less than $1 million in annual revenue
Has a small office or workspace

Workers Compensation Insurance for Business Consultants

Workers' compensation insurance covers medical expenses and lost wages if any of your employees suffers a work-related illness or injury. Imagine a situation where an employee at a business consulting firm trips on office equipment and injures their knee.

With workers' compensation, the policy covers the employee's lost wages for the time that they are unable to work.

Other than paying for the employee's medical bills and partially lost wages, most providers will often include employer's liability insurance. The latter protects your business in the event that the injured employee ends up filing a lawsuit against your business.

Cyber Liability Insurance for Business Consultants

Finally, you must consider getting cyber liability insurance. This policy comes in particularly handy if you handle sensitive information. The first type of cyber liability insurance you must consider getting is first-party cyber liability insurance. This policy covers data breaches and other cyber events that might affect your business's IT ecosystem. Expenses covered under this policy include those incurred as a result of:

Notifying the client of the cyber threat
Cyber extortion demands
Public relations and reputation management following the breach
Credit monitoring services for affected client accounts

The other policy you must consider is third-party cyber liability insurance. This legally protects your consultancy business in the event that the affected business ends up filing a lawsuit against you. Third-party cyber liability insurance will cover attorney fees, court costs, and all settlements or fines imposed against your business consultancy practice.

Business Consultant Insurance Cost

General liability insurance will cost your business $32 per month or $384 per year on average.

If you were to purchase a business owner's policy, this would typically be cheaper than a general liability and commercial property insurance separately. The cost of a BOP for a business consultant is $52 per month or $624 per year.

To get a better understanding of your actual rates, take a look at this table that shows how much business consultant insurance costs from the best companies:

	Cost per Month	Cost per Year	Best for
NEXT	$22	$264	Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for business consultants
CoverWallet	$28.04	$336.48	Business consultant insurance quotes comparison online
CommercialInsurance.Net	$30	$360	Comparing business consultant insurance quotes over the phone
Thimble	$30	$360	On-demand business consultant insurance
Hiscox	$32.75	$393	Business consultant insurance with worldwide coverage
Nationwide	$36	$432	Extensive discounts offered
Progressive	$40	$480	Comprehensive coverage

Cost Of Other Business Consultant Insurance Policies

The cost of professional liability insurance for business consultants is $50 per month or $600 per year.

For workers' compensation insurance, you will pay $38 per month or $456 per year. The premiums you pay will be determined by the number of employees you have and the risks they face while dispensing their duties.

It is prudent to mention that cyber liability insurance is probably the most expensive cover you will have to pay for your consultancy business. The premiums will be $128 per month or $1,536 per year. This might be even higher if you handle sensitive information for the clients.

Fortunately, there's the possibility of getting cheap business consultant insurance quotes online. Compare quotes by clicking the “Get Quotes” button on this page.

Best Business Consulting Insurance Companies

If you are ever in the market for business consulting insurance, here are the best business consulting insurance companies to choose from. Read to know their pros, cons, and rate for a $1 million general liability insurance.

NEXT Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Best overall
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Great customer service and reputation
Excellent rates
Outstanding value for money
Get a 10% discount if you buy two or more business consultant policies

Cons

Couldn’t find any

NEXT’s business consultant insurance offers general liability, workers compensation, and commercial property insurance.

This company gives you the liberty to bundle your commercial property and general liability insurance in a BOP for easier policy management and cheaper rates.

NEXT’s general liability insurance is available as a basic or pro coverage. The pro version of its general liability insurance has professional liability insurance as an add-on.

As for commercial property insurance, the policy provides $110,000 building coverage and $15,000 contents coverage. NEXT’s commercial property insurance doesn’t only protect your building and its contents but also money and securities, business interruption, and employee dishonesty.

Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for business consultants

Average cost: $22 per month

Our rating: 10/10

CoverWallet Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Compare quotes online
Buy a policy online
Cancel a coverage anytime
Name an unlimited number of additional insureds

Cons

CoverWallet’s business consulting insurance offers you with commercial property insurance, general liability insurance, and professional liability insurance.

Your general liability insurance from this company has a $1 million per occurrence limit with a $2 million aggregate. Non-owned/hired auto coverage and terrorism coverage are included as add-ons. Moreover, you can name additional insureds to general liability insurance for free.

The business consultant professional liability insurance from this company has a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit with a $2 million aggregate. You can also name additional insureds without an increase in rates.

CoverWallet’s commercial property insurance for business consultants offers a $15,000 minimum coverage for building and contents.

To get insured by CoverWallet, use its online quotes comparison tool and provide business information. It will then issue quotes you can purchase online.

Best for: Business consultant insurance quotes comparison online

Average cost: $28.04 per month

Our rating: 10/10

CommercialInsurance.Net Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Responsive customer service
Call and get covered quickly
Takes you to partners if it can’t provide coverage
A partner of Thimble and NEXT

Cons

Doesn’t issue online quotes

CommercialInsurance.Net offers general liability, commercial property, commercial auto, cyber liability, and other business insurance policies for business consultants. To get covered by this company, you need to call and talk with an agent who will design a customized and comprehensive coverage for your business.

Call CommercialInsurance.Net now to compare business consultant insurance quotes over the phone.

Best for: Comparing business consultant insurance quotes over the phone

Average cost: $30 per month

Our rating: 10/10

Thimble Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Issues a quick estimate of your rates
ACORD 25 certificates of insurance
On-demand coverage
General liability insurance provides coverage on your liability over the property of others

Cons

You can’t reach customer service by calling

Workers compensation, general liability, and commercial property insurance are the policies offered by Thimble’s business consultant insurance.

Thimble’s general liability insurance for business consultants offers $1 million-$2 million per occurrence limit. You can customize this company’s general liability policy and add coverage for the property of others and your business equipment.

The commercial property insurance underwritten by Thimble provides $25,000-$500,000 building and contents coverage. This can be upgraded to cover property in transit, accounts receivable, business income, and employee dishonesty.

Best for: On-demand business consultant insurance

Average cost: $30 per month

Our rating: 9/10

Hiscox Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Discounts of up to 5% are available when you bundle together two or more Hiscox business consulting insurance policies

Hiscox offers a 14-day money-back refund policy

Policyholders can get quotes and purchase policies online

Cons

Customers might not be able to buy all the coverage they need from Hiscox directly
Business consulting insurance is not available in Alaska
BOPs only available to a business consultancy with less than 10 employees

Hiscox business consulting insurance includes professional liability insurance designed for virtually every industry. Hiscox offers $200,000 of software copyright infringement coverage for business consultancies in the technology field. For consultants in the beauty industry, the insurer offers $200,000 sexual misconduct claim coverage. This coverage limit is also available for business consultants in the health and fitness industry. It is important to note that Hiscox offers $25,000 of third-party electronic data liability coverage.

Hiscox also offers business consultant general liability insurance that caters to:

Bodily injury and property damage liability
Personal and advertising injury
Medical payments

The BOP from Hiscox offers commercial umbrella protection that can be optimized for small and medium-sized businesses. It includes property insurance, business interruption insurance, and liability insurance.

Hiscox brings to the table over 120 years of experience. Coupled with the high rate from AM Best and BBB, you are assured of the best coverage.

Best for: Business consultant insurance with worldwide coverage

Average cost: $32.75 per month

Our rating: 9/10

Nationwide Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Nationwide offers a handful of business consulting insurance policies
Positive customer reviews
Strong ratings from every significant financial strength metric, including A.M. Best and Standard and Poor's
Over a century of experience, having opened its doors in 1925
Live representatives

Cons

Nationwide's business consulting insurance might be costlier than that of competitors within the same niche
You cannot get an online quote estimate; instead, you are required to fill out a request form on their website
Poor claims handling
Business consultant insurance limitations in Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Mexico

Nationwide is one of the biggest insurance companies in the U.S. It underwrites nearly $18.5 billion in insurance premiums yearly. Amongst its sort-after products is business consulting insurance.

What stands out most about Nationwide is how they work with customized business consultant insurance policies. You can customize your general liability, worker's compensation, and commercial umbrella insurance. As it pertains to the cost, the idea that they are willing to customize your policies means they aren't as forthcoming with pricing and premiums. You are required to get in contact for a custom quote.

Among the discounts offered is a multi-policy discount in which you could save up to 20% if you bundle different insurance policies. Additionally, you could get a claims-free discount if you avoid filling any claim within the contract period.

Best for: Extensive discounts offered

Average cost: $36 per month

Our rating: 8/10

Progressive Business Consulting Insurance

Pros

Progressive's comprehensive policies cover a wide variety of risks
Significant discounts if a policyholder purchases multiple insurance policies
Good financial stability
Progressive's online quote-generating tool is simple and efficient

Cons

Progressive outsources the business consulting policies to third parties

Progressive gets convoluted when generating quotes for this particular coverage

To protect your consultancy business, Progressive offers you its Advantage Business Program. The program's agents are specially trained in commercial insurance, and as such, they will guide you towards the right coverage. These consultants will provide you with custom coverage depending on the business you are in. For instance, with computer consultants, the representative will help get technology errors and omissions coverage.

As it pertains to the cost of the business consulting insurance, this will depend on your area of specialty and coverage needs. Your business location, claims history, and the number of employees, among others, will also guide the insurer in reaching the cost of your premiums. You will need to get a customized quote from Progressive that's unique to your business.

Best for: Comprehensive coverage

Average cost: $40 per month

Our rating: 8/10