Insurance Agents & Brokers Errors & Omissions Insurance
Professional liability coverage for insurance agents, brokers, MGAs, and TPAs.
This is an estimate, not a bound policy — a licensed VAB producer confirms final terms before coverage starts. Sgt. Savings can answer questions but can't quote, bind, or guarantee coverage.
An agent who fails to properly place a policy — or places it with the wrong coverage — can be on the hook for the benefits the client would have received. Insurance Agents & Brokers Errors & Omissions covers solicitation, placement, and servicing of insurance and reinsurance, MGA/program-administrator underwriting authority, insurance consulting, and TPA claims administration, with an optional buy-back for registered representative activities.
Who This Is Really For
The ideal buyer.
The ideal buyer is an independent insurance agency or MGA that has either just had a client discover a coverage gap after a loss, the classic failure-to-procure scenario, or is expanding into a new line of authority — TPA claims administration, registered representative activities — that pushes past what their existing E&O was scoped for. This buyer usually already understands professional liability conceptually, since they sell it, but is now evaluating it as a buyer rather than a seller, and cares specifically about the would-have-been-paid loss definition because they know from experience that's the claim pattern that actually shows up against agents. Agencies with staff who are also registered representatives selling variable products are a distinct sub-segment — they specifically need the registered representative buy-back, because they already know from their own book of business how easily that activity falls outside a standard agent E&O policy. This buyer is sophisticated about insurance mechanics and is comparing specific carve-backs and buy-backs against their actual book, not shopping on price alone.
- Independent insurance agents and brokerages
- Managing general agents (MGAs) and program administrators with underwriting authority
- Third-party administrators (TPAs) handling claims administration
- Agents who are also registered representatives selling variable products through an affiliated broker-dealer
- Agencies that want the failure-to-procure exposure explicitly covered, since it's one of the most common agent E&O claims
What It Covers
Coverage, broken down.
Placement and servicing as professional services
Covers solicitation, placement, and servicing of insurance and reinsurance, MGA/program-administrator underwriting authority, insurance consulting, and TPA claims administration.
"Would-have-been-paid" loss definition
Extends the definition of Loss to include benefits the client would have received had coverage been properly procured — directly addressing the most common type of agent E&O claim.
Registered representative activities buy-back (optional)
Extends coverage to variable annuities, life products, and mutual funds sold through an affiliated broker-dealer — carving back the standard securities exclusion for that specific activity.
Insolvency exclusion carve-back for highly rated carriers
If you placed coverage with a carrier rated A- or better at the time of placement and that carrier later becomes insolvent, the claim against you for that placement isn't automatically excluded.
Disciplinary proceeding & subpoena defense reimbursement (optional)
Covers the cost of responding to a licensing board proceeding or subpoena, separate from an underlying client claim.
Illustrative Scenario — How This Coverage Responds
Illustrative scenario — a failure to procure adequate coverage
A client asks their agent to bind coverage for a specific exposure, but the agent never completes the placement, or the coverage that's placed doesn't match what was requested. When a loss occurs and the client discovers there's no coverage, they sue the agent for the benefits that would have been paid had the policy been properly placed. Insurance Agents & Brokers E&O responds to the claim, since the Loss definition specifically includes would-have-been-paid benefits for a failure to procure coverage.
Illustrative example for education only — not a claim outcome or a promise of payment. Every claim depends on the actual policy issued and its terms.
More Than One Way In
More scenarios.
Real coverage doesn't fit one story. Here's who else this shows up for.
The agency placing coverage with a carrier that goes insolvent
An agency places a client's commercial policy with a well-rated carrier that later becomes insolvent for unrelated reasons, and needs to confirm the insolvency carve-back protects them on that specific placement.
The MGA taking on new underwriting authority
An MGA is offered expanded binding authority by a new carrier partner and needs to evaluate whether that shift from pure placement toward risk-bearing activity is still within scope of their agent E&O or needs different coverage.
The dual-licensed producer
An agent who's also a registered representative sells a client a variable annuity through an affiliated broker-dealer, and a later client complaint about the product raises the question of whether that specific sale falls under the standard securities exclusion or the elected buy-back.
Know The Gaps
What this doesn't cover.
Every policy has limits. Knowing them before you buy is how you avoid a denied claim later.
Premium or claim-fund theft
Actual theft of client premium or claim funds is excluded here just like across other professional lines — a fidelity bond or crime policy covers theft, this covers negligence.
Placement with unlicensed carriers outside proper channels
Placing coverage improperly outside your licensed authority isn't a covered professional service failure — it's treated as a compliance failure on your part.
Ownership or operation of your own insurance company or self-insurance trust
If your agency also owns or runs a risk-bearing entity, that's a fundamentally different exposure needing insurance company professional liability, not agent E&O.
Own risk-bearing under a binding authority or reinsurance treaty
An MGA that takes on its own risk under a binding authority arrangement, rather than just placing business, needs different coverage for that risk-bearing role.
Guarantees of investment, dividend, or vanishing-premium performance
No professional liability policy covers a promised financial outcome — only negligence in the advisory or placement process.
Discretionary investment authority and health-care-provider malpractice
These are separate professional services outside an agent's core placement work — an agent doing either of these also needs the corresponding dedicated professional liability line.
Behind The Quote
What goes into the decision.
What actually moves your price and your approval — no black box.
Book of business composition
The type and complexity of business placed — personal lines, commercial, life/health, or MGA binding authority — is the primary driver of claim frequency and severity for this line.
Election of the registered representative activities buy-back
For agencies with any dual-licensed producers, whether this is elected determines whether variable product sales are actually covered or fall under the standard securities exclusion.
Documentation practices around placement and client communication
Since failure-to-procure is the most common claim type this line addresses, how well an agency documents what was requested and bound is directly relevant to defending a claim.
Carrier relationships and rating discipline
Placing with well-rated carriers matters given the insolvency carve-back is conditioned on the carrier being rated A- or better at the time of placement.
Scope of risk-bearing activity
An MGA or agency that takes on its own risk under a binding authority or reinsurance treaty needs that distinguished from pure placement work, since it falls outside standard agent E&O.
Let's get you covered.
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Availability
Available to insurance agents, brokers, MGAs, and third-party administrators nationwide, placed and administered state by state.
Questions, answered straight
No jargon on insurance agents & brokers errors & omissions insurance — just what you're actually asking.
Yes — this is exactly what the "would-have-been-paid" loss definition is built for. Failure to procure requested coverage is one of the most common claims against agents, and it's specifically addressed here.
Only with the optional Registered Representative Activities buy-back elected — without it, variable products sold through a broker-dealer relationship fall under the standard securities exclusion.
If the carrier was rated A- or better at the time you placed the coverage, the insolvency exclusion is carved back so a related claim against you isn't automatically excluded on that basis alone.
No, TPA claims administration is included as a covered professional service under this line.
Actual theft or mishandling of premium/claim funds is excluded — that's a fidelity/crime exposure, not a negligence claim this policy responds to.
Beyond This Coverage
What people in your situation also need.
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Learn moreReady to talk it through?
Get a quote in minutes, or ask Sgt. Savings a straight question first — no pressure, no runaround.
Insurance products described on this page are marketed by The Veteran Alliance, a licensed insurance producer, and underwritten by one or more separately licensed insurance companies, which may include Corgi Insurance Company and its affiliates. The insurer that actually underwrites your policy, its licensing status in your state, and any state-required notices will be identified in your quote and policy documents. Coverage, limits, eligibility, and pricing are determined by the underwriting insurer, may vary by state, and may change. Nothing on this page is a quote, an offer of insurance, a binder, or a guarantee of coverage — coverage takes effect only when a policy is issued.
