Claims Made Coverage
For a claim to be covered insurance must be in place at the time the claim is made. It is not sufficient for coverage to exist at the time professional services are provided.

• After issues between a manufacturing company and one of their clients continued to grow, a management consultant was retained to make recommendations to improve the relationship. However the relationship continued to deteriorate and was ultimately severed. The manufacturer sued the consultant for lost profits and for fees paid, claiming their efforts were substandard and that its actions actually contributed to the demise of the relationship.
• A Management Consultant was hired to help with executive decision making for a client corporation. A reorganization strategy was formulated and then implemented. Later the client brought suit against the insured alleging improper advice as the reorganization plan did not yield the expected monetary results.
• A retail store sued its Management Consultant who was hired to evaluate building safety codes and procedures.  Claimant alleged that our insured improperly advised them by failing to cite all procedures that needed to be in place, resulting in an ordinance violation that closed the store. The suspension of operations caused the client considerable monetary loss.

• A marketing and public relations consultant agreed to develop and implement a media campaign for an association of small business owners who were sponsoring a community fair. The contract required advertising on local radio and in print; however, the consultant failed to secure the advertising in a timely manner. When the fair did not have the high turnout expected, the association sued the consultant for all costs associated with the operation of the fair and potential business lost.
• A suit was filed stating that a Marketing Consultant failed to perform promised services on a timely basis. This failure resulted in postponement of a new product release date. The client alleged they suffered economic damages because their product missed the window of opportunity for optimal sales.
• A school district hired a Marketing Consultant to administer and manage a survey project. The insured mishandled the project, resulting in the loss of data necessitating that the study be re-done. The school district sued the insured alleging that improper procedures and negligent handling of data resulted in a monetary loss to the school as they would have to pay for data recovery services and the cost of performing the study again

• A human resources consultant was hired by a client to develop company guidelines. These guidelines were to include continued medical benefits rights (COBRA) information for departing employees. The consultant did create a bulletin in this regard, however when a departing employee was denied medical benefits, they sued the client, who in turn sued the human resources consultant. They claimed the bulletin was ambiguous and was the reason the medical benefits were denied.
• A client sued a Computer Consultant stating the consultant failed to provide the customized system for which they contracted.  The allegations included failure to meet client requirements and improper system design which resulted in the loss of accounts receivable records and subsequent monetary loss to the client.
• A Computer Consultant was sued by its client alleging inadequate and faulty customized software design that resulted in a duplication of client records. The client had to pay an outside vendor to correct the data problems at a significant cost.

Claims such as these have resulted in millions of dollars in defense costs and indemnity payments.

 Can you afford NOT to be insured?  
The above examples are provided for illustration purposes only. The actual disposition of a claim is dependent upon each claim’s individual circumstances and the policy terms, including all applicable endorsements.