A client who lost money will remember the advice and forget the disclaimer. The policy is written for that conversation.
A financial planner sells judgment: a retirement date, a withdrawal rate, a mix of accounts, a recommendation to take the pension as a lump sum. When the judgment turns out badly, or the market makes it look bad, the client sues for the difference between what they have and what the plan projected. Professional liability (often called errors and omissions) defends and pays those claims, and it is the one policy a planner cannot practice without, because broker-dealers, custodians and many clients require it. We place it for fee-only planners, planners who also hold securities or insurance licenses, and small firms with a few advisors, with cyber and a bond alongside where a client or a regulator asks for them.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What financial planner businesses actually need.
Professional liability
Claims that your advice, a plan or a recommendation caused a client a financial loss, including the cost of defending a claim that has no merit.
Without it — Defense alone runs to five figures before anyone rules on the merits, and a general liability policy excludes professional advice entirely.
Regulatory defense costs
Legal costs when a state securities regulator, the SEC or FINRA opens an inquiry or brings a formal proceeding against you.
Without it — A regulatory matter is not a client claim, so a bare professional liability policy may not respond; the defense is paid out of your own pocket.
Cyber liability
A breach of the client files you hold: statements, Social Security numbers, account numbers, tax returns. Notification, credit monitoring, forensics and the resulting claims.
Without it — State law requires notification whether or not you are insured, and a planner holds exactly the records a thief wants.
General liability
A client who falls in your office, or damage to the suite you lease.
Without it — Your landlord requires it, and the slip in the lobby is the claim you did not plan for.
Fidelity bond
Theft of client funds by an employee, which custodians and some clients require you to carry.
Without it — Professional liability covers mistakes, not theft; a dishonest employee is a separate policy or a bond.
Life and health agent errors and omissions
For planners who also place life insurance or annuities: claims about the products sold, added to the same policy or written beside it.
Without it — A professional liability policy for planning advice may exclude the sale of insurance products; the annuity that did not fit is a claim on its own.
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Most common
A client alleges an unsuitable recommendation after a market decline
Covered by Professional liability
The claim is that the plan took more risk than the client could bear. The signed engagement letter, the documented risk conversation and the annual review are the defense, and the application asks about all three.
Common
A pension or Social Security election that cannot be undone
Covered by Professional liability
A lump sum versus annuity decision, or when to claim, is irreversible. When the client outlives the projection, the difference is measured against your advice.
Less common, severe
A state regulator opens an inquiry after a client complaint
Covered by Regulatory defense costs, if the policy carries them
Even a matter that closes with no finding costs months of counsel. Check whether regulatory defense is inside the limit or a sublimit.
Less common, severe
A phishing email leads to a wire from a client account
Covered by Cyber, and sometimes the professional liability policy
A spoofed client email asking for a transfer is the most common way money leaves an advisory firm. Verbal confirmation before any wire is what carriers ask about.
What the policy will not cover.
Pick a procedure to see what the exclusion actually means and whether it can be placed somewhere else.
The policy responds to negligent advice within the services you told the carrier you provide. It does not guarantee investment results, and it does not cover business you did not disclose.
Where a financial planner policy stops
Guaranteeing a return
A promise that an investment will perform, in writing or on a call, is excluded on every form; the claim becomes a contract dispute the policy will not defend.
Can it be placed? No. Do not make the promise.
Selling products you did not disclose
Private placements, promissory notes and unregistered investments sold outside the firm are the classic uncovered claim.
Can it be placed? Sometimes, if disclosed and the carrier accepts the activity.
Fee disputes
A client refusing to pay, or suing to get fees back, is not a professional liability claim unless negligence is alleged alongside it.
Can it be placed? Some forms offer a small fee-dispute sublimit.
Acts before the retroactive date
The policy covers claims made during the term for work done after a date printed on it. Advice given before that date is uncovered if you let the policy lapse or switch carriers without carrying the date forward.
Can it be placed? Yes. Ask for the prior date to be carried over at every renewal or move.
What the insurance company will ask about your financial planner business
We read the applications the markets use for businesses in this field and pulled out what they actually ask. Have these answers ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week, because nobody has to come back to you for the missing piece.
About the business
- What is your company's legal structure (LLC, corporation, partnership)?
- Since what year has your company been continuously operating?
- What percentage of your revenue comes from each type of service you provide (asset management, financial planning, commissions, fees, other)?
- Are you engaged in any business other than serving as a family office or investment advisor?
How you operate
- Do you manage discretionary assets for clients?
- What is your investment strategy for options?
- What percentage of assets under management involve options trading?
- Do you maintain a written system for identifying and avoiding conflicts of interest?
- Do you have formal written policies on anti-discrimination, anti-sexual harassment, and employment practices?
Safety and controls
- How many employees do you have (full-time and part-time)?
- Has employee turnover exceeded 25% in any of the last three years?
- Do you have an employee dishonesty insurance policy that covers theft of client funds?
- Have you been audited by the SEC, FINRA, or any state securities regulator?
Your history
- Has there been any change in ownership in the last 12 months?
- Have you or anyone in your company been the subject of any regulatory, investigative, or administrative proceedings?
- Have you been fined or sanctioned by any regulatory body or government agency?
- Have you had any trading losses exceeding $5,000?
- Have there been any inquiries, complaints, civil cases, criminal cases, or arbitration proceedings against you in the last five years?
Money and people
- What were your gross revenues for the last three years?
- Are there any facts, errors, omissions, or circumstances that might lead to a claim under the insurance you're requesting?
Have these ready
- Your last three years of tax returns and financial statements
- List of owners, partners, and officers with their ownership percentages
- Names and professional designations of all advisers and their CRD numbers
- Your current Form BD and Form ADV Parts I and II
- Your latest regulatory examination report and management response to it
You answer what you can; a licensed agent fills the rest with you.
What our financial planner clients ask us.
How much does financial planner insurance cost?
A solo fee-only planner with a clean record usually pays in the low thousands a year for a one million dollar professional liability limit. The price rises with revenue, the number of advisors, discretionary control over client money, and the sale of insurance products or private investments alongside planning. Cyber adds a few hundred dollars and is usually worth it.
Is financial planner insurance the same as investment advisor insurance?
They overlap. Both are professional liability for financial advice. A registered investment advisor manages money and answers to the SEC or a state regulator, so its policy needs regulatory defense and a fiduciary claims wording. A planner who only builds plans and refers the investing out has a narrower exposure and often a lower price.
What does a financial planner insurance application ask for?
The applications we work from ask whether you are registered as an investment advisor and with whom, whether you are a representative of a broker-dealer, your revenue split between fees and commissions, assets under management and client count, whether you have discretion over client accounts, whether you place insurance or annuities, whether you use engagement letters, any regulatory audits or complaints in five years, and whether you carry a bond. They want your Form ADV and a sample engagement letter.
Do I need this if I am also a CPA?
Yes, and it may be one policy or two. An accountant's professional liability policy covers tax and accounting work; some carriers will add financial planning to it for a firm where planning is a small share of revenue, and others require a separate advisory policy once you manage money. Tell both carriers about both practices so neither can later claim the other should have paid.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.