How Agents Can Help Professional Liability Clients Mitigate Risks

• By: Olivia Overman
• June 16, 2025

In 2023, the global professional liability insurance market was valued at approximately $45.6 billion, according to Allied Market Research, and is estimated to reach $81.2 billion by 2032. The U.S. dominates this market due to its litigious environment, according to DataIntelo, driving demand for professional liability coverage. As a result, the market has seen significant evolution in recent years. 

“Professional liability policies these days are a lot more advanced, with carriers offering risk management services along with the policy,” says Rahmad Bauldrick, associate vice president, regional practice group leader, professional, Burns & Wilcox. “The agent needs to make sure that the insured is aware of these services and how to navigate them.”

In a society that is increasingly litigious, “insureds need to be as proactive as possible as they address their current and future risk management needs,” says Greg Ferrell, national vice president, head of medical lines, Admiral Insurance Group, a Berkley Company. “Either independently or through third-party risk management firms, the more diligent insureds are about constantly reviewing and addressing their overall risk management, the more successful they will be in not only securing coverage as exposures grow and change, but also doing everything possible to maximize the defensibility of claims that do come in.”

Agents play a role as trusted advisors by assisting clients in identifying where they are vulnerable—both in known risk areas and emerging threats. “First and foremost, clients need to identify their risks, know their firm’s exposures, potential threats and vulnerabilities based on the type of firm that it is,” says Mary Henderson, executive vice president, professional lines practice co-leader, Amwins. “Knowing what they are and moving from there is the best way to mitigate any threats.”

Agents can “identify what the trends are in specific types of professional services, understand the risks and then translate that for their clients,” Henderson says. “It’s so helpful for clients to know how a policy might respond to certain types of claims depending on their exposures as an individual firm. A light bulb goes off once you can connect those dots.”

By being proactive, agents can assist clients as they address their current and future risk management needs. “It’s nice to have risk management services included within the policy form, but it’s even better if the insured knows how to use them to their advantage,” Bauldrick says. “When we talk about employment practices liability insurance, many carriers will offer some type of human resource element, for example offering services that help the insured put employee handbooks together—today’s professional liability market recognizes the importance of offering risk management services.” 

Key stepping stones to providing coverage for clients include: “understand the carrier’s forms and any nuances in coverage; identify the needs of the client by understanding their exposure in order to provide adequate coverage; bring expertise to the table; and don’t sell price, because when you start to sell price, that leads to coverage gaps,” Bauldrick says.

As agents work with different carriers, brokers and wholesalers, “consistent and straightforward communication is key and helps to avoid any potential coverage gaps, including but not limited to letting insureds know that there may be additional premium required in addition to the additional exposure information,” Ferrell says. “The more that agents and brokers can truly partner with the carriers, the higher the likelihood of a smooth process in evaluating exposures.”

“Use the resources at hand, such as risk management resources, third-party data and industry information, to help initiate and facilitate conversations with insureds,” Ferrell says. The ramifications for agents not doing so can be significant—including legal expenses, reputational damage and financial loss.

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.