I am an architecture or engineering LLP. Does anything change?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Yes, and the date is 1 January 2034. Corporations Code section 16956 is written to be repealed then and replaced by a version covering only accountancy and law. The parallel definition at section 16101 is rewritten from the same date to define professional limited liability partnership services as the practice of public accountancy or the practice of law. Read together, that affects how architecture, engineering and land surveying firms can be organized, not just what security they post. It is a question for your attorney, and it is worth raising well before then. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Is there anything California specifically says is hard to get here?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Yes. California publishes an export list of coverages the Insurance Commissioner has found are not reasonably available from admitted insurers, reviewed at an annual public hearing. For professional services firms, employment practices liability and patent, trademark and copyright infringement coverage both appear on it. That is a signal these exposures often sit outside standard admitted programs, so ask about them specifically rather than assuming a professional liability policy reaches them. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Why does the wording vary so much between quotes?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Professional liability has no standard industry form, and that is the main reason quotes differ. General liability policies commonly start from a shared industry template, so two quotes are broadly comparable. Errors and omissions policies do not, because each insurer drafts its own wording. Two quotes at the same limit and premium can differ in what counts as a covered professional service, how a claim has to be reported, and what is excluded. Some of this line is also placed with insurers not admitted in California, which do not file their forms with the Department of Insurance and have wider freedom in rate and form. Read the definitions and the reporting condition before you compare on price. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

What should I ask about defense and limits?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Ask how defense is treated, because on professional liability it is usual rather than unusual for defense costs to come out of your limit instead of sitting on top of it. A one million dollar limit with three hundred thousand dollars of defense spend leaves seven hundred thousand for a settlement. Ask whether your deductible applies to defense, so you know whether the first dollars are yours. Ask whether the policy needs your consent to settle and what happens if you refuse, because some policies cap the carrier’s obligation at the amount it could have settled for. Ask whether you choose your own lawyer or use the carrier’s panel. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

No one requires it. Should I carry it anyway?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Carrying errors and omissions coverage when nothing requires it is a judgment call, and the cost that arrives first is defense rather than a verdict. Defense costs start running before anyone decides whether the work was actually wrong. A dissatisfied client’s claim is normally pure financial loss, with nobody injured and nothing damaged, and general liability is built mainly around bodily injury and property damage. Know the product’s edges before you rely on it, because a demand that you redo the work or refund the fee is frequently excluded or limited, even though it feels like the most obvious claim there is. Where the real exposure sits elsewhere, a different policy answers it, and an employee claim or a theft of client money are the common examples. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

What happens if I stop, or switch carriers?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Stopping and switching are different, and the difference is worth money. If you close, retire or let coverage lapse, an extended reporting period, often called tail, is how you keep the ability to report old claims. If you switch carriers and the new one accepts your existing retroactive date, your prior work carries forward under the new policy and you do not need to buy tail. What to check before you move is whether the new carrier is honoring the old retroactive date or resetting it to the new inception date, which would strand everything you did before. Never let the retroactive date move forward for a premium saving. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Does my policy cover work I did before I bought it?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] Most errors and omissions coverage is written claims-made, and usually claims-made and reported. Two things have to line up: the work must postdate the policy’s retroactive date, and the claim must be made against you and reported to the carrier within the policy period or the short window after it. The retroactive date is a cutoff rather than a grant. Work performed before it is not picked up, however the claim arrives. If you become aware of something that might become a claim, most policies let you report the circumstance and lock it into the current policy, and waiting can cost you that. Anything you already knew about when you bound is generally not covered. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Do I need errors and omissions coverage if my business has no license?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] For a business with no licensing board, a contract is usually what creates the requirement. Consultants, agencies, developers, bookkeepers and recruiters generally have no board imposing an errors and omissions condition. That is not the same as having no obligations at all. California often attaches bonding requirements to particular activities rather than to job titles, so preparing tax returns for others or placing jobseekers for a fee can carry a bond requirement of its own, subject to exemptions. Anyone with employees also owes workers’ compensation. Whether a particular obligation reaches your business is a legal question, and we can tell you what a contract’s insurance exhibit is asking for. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Is a surety bond the same as errors and omissions coverage?

[fusion_builder_container type="flex" hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" border_style="solid"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_repeat="no-repeat" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="true" hover_type="none" first="true"][fusion_text] No, and they work in opposite directions. A bond is a three-party arrangement: a surety guarantees your performance to whoever the bond protects, pays that party up to the bond amount, then comes back to you for what it paid plus its costs. The bond amount is usually an aggregate for the term, so one claimant can exhaust it. What conduct a bond reaches is set by the statute requiring it rather than by a policy form, and several California bonds reach ordinary violations, unpaid wages or failure to perform rather than dishonesty alone. Errors and omissions coverage is the reverse. You buy it for yourself, it transfers the loss instead of lending it to you, and it hires and pays for a lawyer to defend you. A bond does not defend you at all. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Do we still need this with a $15 million exemption?

Most California couples do not, and that is worth saying plainly. With the federal exemption at $15 million per person in 2026 and California imposing no estate tax of its own, an estate below those thresholds has no federal estate tax to fund. Where it still earns its place is an estate near or above the exemption, or one concentrated in a business, ranch, or property nobody wants to sell quickly. Your CPA should confirm where you sit. Current as of August 2026.

FAQs FAQ Listings | Schneiderman Insurance Agency

Name: Schneiderman Insurance Agency
Price range: $$

I am an architecture or engineering LLP. Does anything change?
Yes, and the date is 1 January 2034. Corporations Code section 16956 is written to be repealed then and replaced by a version covering only accountancy and law. The ...
Read MoreRead More
Is there anything California specifically says is hard to get here?
Yes. California publishes an export list of coverages the Insurance Commissioner has found are not reasonably available from admitted insurers, reviewed at an annual public hearing. For professional services ...
Read MoreRead More
Why does the wording vary so much between quotes?
Professional liability has no standard industry form, and that is the main reason quotes differ. General liability policies commonly start from a shared industry template, so two quotes are ...
Read MoreRead More
What should I ask about defense and limits?
Ask how defense is treated, because on professional liability it is usual rather than unusual for defense costs to come out of your limit instead of sitting on top ...
Read MoreRead More
No one requires it. Should I carry it anyway?
Carrying errors and omissions coverage when nothing requires it is a judgment call, and the cost that arrives first is defense rather than a verdict. Defense costs start running ...
Read MoreRead More
What happens if I stop, or switch carriers?
Stopping and switching are different, and the difference is worth money. If you close, retire or let coverage lapse, an extended reporting period, often called tail, is how you ...
Read MoreRead More
Does my policy cover work I did before I bought it?
Most errors and omissions coverage is written claims-made, and usually claims-made and reported. Two things have to line up: the work must postdate the policy’s retroactive date, and the ...
Read MoreRead More
Do I need errors and omissions coverage if my business has no license?
For a business with no licensing board, a contract is usually what creates the requirement. Consultants, agencies, developers, bookkeepers and recruiters generally have no board imposing an errors and ...
Read MoreRead More
Is a surety bond the same as errors and omissions coverage?
No, and they work in opposite directions. A bond is a three-party arrangement: a surety guarantees your performance to whoever the bond protects, pays that party up to the ...
Read MoreRead More
Do we still need this with a $15 million exemption?
Most California couples do not, and that is worth saying plainly. With the federal exemption at $15 million per person in 2026 and California imposing no estate tax of its ...
Read MoreRead More

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