More than just E&O insurance, we offer a full suite of corporate liability insurance solutions to protect all aspects of your business.

Certain provincial regulators are now mandating separate and distinct corporate E&O coverage for financial advisor agencies, regardless of what personal coverage an advisor might hold. It has been determined that the vicarious liability extensions of an advisor’s personal coverage is insufficient to fully comply with regulators consumer protection expectations. It is important for advisors to consider regulatory requirements and also full comprehensive protection for their incorporated entity.

Insured Services

Your agent’s E&O insurance was intended to protect you from any legal action that might be brought against you. Under Common Law and the Civil Code (Quebec), professionals are held to a higher standard by virtue of their accreditation and training.

If you have set up a corporation under which you conduct your business, this entity could also be named in any action against you. If you have licensed agents other than yourself working in your entity (including licensed administrative assistants), your entity’s exposure to claims risk is higher. More clients also means greater exposure.

In certain circumstances, the ABS agent’s E&O coverage can be extended to cover your personal corporation.

Protection for “personal corporations” is included under the ABS program

When you purchase your individual coverage (A, B, C) with ABS, coverage for “Personal Corporation” is automatically included. This means that, if eligible, the agent’s personal corporation is considered to be an additional insured under the ABS agent’s E&O coverage.

However, not all corporations are the same; some, depending on their ownership structure, may not qualify for personal corporation coverage, and would therefore require separate corporate coverage.

Please refer to the master policy wording for actual policy definitions and for business activities covered.

If your corporation isn’t eligible to be added as an additional insured, your entity has limited protection under your agent’s E&O coverage. In fact, the coverage for your firm is limited to “vicarious liability,” provided you’ve declared your firm on your agent’s E&O insurance application.

What is “vicarious liability”?

In Common Law and under the Civil Code, the doctrine of vicarious liability establishes that in an employer-employee or agency-agent relationship, the employer or agency may be held liable for the conduct of its employees, without proving actual negligence.

However, should a claim be brought against your entity alleging negligence (“direct” liability), such as allegations of negligent hiring, negligent supervision or training, your agent’s E&O policy won’t respond to defend your entity because this does not constitute vicarious liability. Neither will the policies carried by any of your employed or contracted agents respond for direct liability allegations. Also, where a licensed agent has left the entity, or where the agent has failed to maintain individual E&O coverage, and a suit is brought against the entity alleging negligence on the part of the former employee, your entity could be called upon by the courts to respond. Under these circumstances and many other situations, your agent’s E&O policy won’t respond to protect your entity. Any legal expenses or court awards would be borne entirely by your entity.

If your corporation is ineligible to be covered as an Additional Insured, we recommend consideration of a separate corporate E&O policy. For more information, please consult our Corporate E&O Application Form or contact us at info@absinc.ca.

Protect your Board of Directors from exposures arising from litigation against your organization that could negatively impact their personal finances.

Advocis Broker Services works with corporations to determine their protection needs and to provide coverage for both the company and its Directors.

Advocis Broker Services offers comprehensive Directors and Officer’s liability insurance to protect not only the assets of the organization but also the personal assets of its Directors. This solution can be scaled to suit organizations.

Coverage options include:

• Company assets and reputation
• Personal assets of Directors
• Employment practices liability insurance

Hacking. Phishing. Information theft. Cyber blackmail. More and more companies are at risk. Public perception of how they respond when an information breach occurs and clients’ personal information is stolen or exposed can make or break a business.

These unique risks require unique coverage. Businesses need liability coverage that specifically addresses today’s cyber threats.

All Commercial General Liability policies exclude cyber and information privacy risks, leaving businesses exposed or uninsured.

Advocis Broker Services can make sure these risks are addressed properly with Privacy & Cyber Liability protection.

Commercial General Liability covers legal costs associated with incidents causing property damage or bodily injury to others as a result of business operations or products. Commercial Property Insurance provides protection for the whole workplace in covering the buildings, equipment and inventory.