Insurance Defense and Coverage
Exclusions and Special Issues
The exclusion bars coverage for injury arising out of the rendering or failure to render professional services, defined variously by form. It exists to channel professional exposures to a separate professional liability policy.
Definitions of professional services differ, and some forms enumerate covered professions while others use general language.
Alternative Names:
Professional Liability Exclusion, Professional Acts Exclusion
Why it Matters?
The exclusion creates coverage gaps where an insured's activities straddle the line between general operations and professional services, which is common in healthcare facilities, engineering firms, and technology companies. A claim characterized as ordinary negligence may be excluded if the underlying conduct required specialized judgment, and the characterization fight determines whether the general liability or professional policy responds, or whether neither does.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What counts as professional services?
Why does the characterization matter?
