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Agent’s Guide to
Professional Liability Gaps
(and How to Close Them)

Professional risks are evolving faster than most coverage forms can keep up. The difference between protection and exposure often comes down to the fine print. Do you know how to read between the lines? Jencap’s professional lines specialists do, helping you see what others might miss.

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D&O: More Than A Boardroom Policy

As Anthony Manna, a Jencap D&O specialist, explains, too many programs look solid on paper until a claim exposes the truth. It’s not just publicly traded corporations at risk, either. Private companies, nonprofits, and family-run businesses face the same scrutiny from regulators, investors, and even their own boards. In today’s soft market, form quality and negotiation skills are more important than ever.

The Hidden D&O Gaps That Come Back to Bite

Even the best-looking D&O programs can hide costly flaws. Here are the coverage gaps Manna sees most often

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Low sublimits for derivative demand cases

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Regulatory Governmental Funding & Antitrust Caps

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Bankruptcy Exclusions

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Missing or Inadequate side a limits

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Incomplete Financial Information

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Failure to maintain Cyber Liability

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Family Run Businesses

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When Fine Print Meets Real Risk

As Manna explains, even one missed exclusion can dismantle an entire program. A private energy company based in New York discovered that its D&O policy excluded antitrust claims, which is a critical gap given the central role antitrust law plays for energy distributors operating at scale in that state. Jencap negotiated a new program that removed the exclusion, eliminated coinsurance, and expanded Side A coverage, transforming a weak policy into true board protection with the most antitrust coverage available.

Anthony Manna
“D&O isn’t just for Fortune 500 boardrooms anymore. Private companies, nonprofits, and even family-run businesses are all facing exposures that were unthinkable a decade ago.”
Anthony Manna Executive VP, Professional Lines Broker

Cyber: Beyond the Breach

Cyber isn’t a new product. It’s just evolving faster than most people realize. No one understands this better than Ed Chadwick, a Jencap Cyber specialist. Underwriters are watching how prepared your clients are before a loss ever happens. Jencap helps agents tell a stronger “controls story,” structuring coverage that holds up when every second counts.

Cyber Gaps That Catch Clients Off Guard

Cyber forms look similar until you need to use them. These are the gaps Chadwick frequently sees, and the ones that can make or break a covered loss.

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Dependent Business Interruption

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Narrow Extortion Definitions

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Breach Event Costs Inside The Limit

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Catastrophic Event Exclusions

The Non-Negotiables

Coverage starts with control. According to Chadwick, underwriters are less interested in buzzwords and more focused on how your clients actually manage risk. So, how do your clients stack up?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is now the baseline for cyber insurability, and not just for admins. Underwriters want to see MFA applied across all privileged accounts to stop attackers from exploiting stolen credentials and lateral movement.

Backups that can’t be altered, encrypted, or deleted are a lifeline in a ransomware event. Carriers expect these backups to be segmented from the main network and regularly tested for restoration speed and accuracy.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) provides continuous, real-time visibility into systems, identifying and isolating threats before they spread. It’s one of the most heavily weighted underwriting factors because it proves your client can catch and contain attacks quickly.

By dividing a network into controlled zones, segmentation prevents attackers from moving freely once they’re inside. It’s especially critical for organizations with remote access or third-party integrations.

A tested Incident Response Plan (IRP), with a breach coach, forensics, and PR partners pre-contracted, shortens downtime and limits total loss. Underwriters want to see it, not just hear it exists.

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When a Vendor Outage Becomes Your Client’s Problem

The CrowdStrike outage was a global wake-up call. Thousands of businesses learned the hard way that their dependent business interruption coverage was capped at $100K, which is barely enough to cover a day’s downtime. Chadwick says it’s one of the clearest examples of why structuring coverage correctly matters. With the right terms in place, those same businesses could have stayed operational and solvent.

Ed Chadwick
“Cyber used to be about liability after the fact. Now, carriers are laser-focused on what you’re doing before anything happens — prevention, containment, and recovery.”
Ed Chadwick VP, Professional Lines Broker

E&O: Where Labels Lie

At first glance, most E&O policies look interchangeable. Michael De Feo, a Jencap E&O specialist, knows how misleading that can be, given that two policies with the same name can respond in entirely different ways. Understanding those nuances is where agents win or lose business.

Be On the Lookout for E&O Weak Spots

E&O claims rarely fail because the client took the wrong action, but because the coverage didn’t match what the business actually does. Here are the missteps Mike De Feo, a Jencap E&O specialist, says agents can’t afford to miss.
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Services Definition Mismatch

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Missing Rectification Coverage

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Narrow Claim Definitions

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Faulty Workmanship language

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GL VS. PL Gaps

Not all E&O is created equal.

“E&O coverage” means something different to every profession, and that’s where trouble starts. Similar-sounding forms can hide very different definitions, exclusions, and triggers. This quick comparison, based on De Feo’s insights, shows how coverage shifts by role and where agents need to dig deeper before they quote.

Role Typical Form Common Pitfall
Broker Real Estate E&O Ownership interests or property-management activities are often excluded, leaving gaps when brokers wear multiple hats.
Property Manager PM E&O + Tenant Discrimination Policies with absolute bodily injury/property damage exclusions leave no coverage for tenant slip-and-fall or habitability-related claims tied to professional services.
Asset Manager Investment Manager E&O + D&O Investor claims are frequently excluded, creating exposure when managing funds or raising capital.
Contractor Contractor PL (design-only vs. full) Design-only coverage omits rectification. There’s no protection for fixing errors mid-project.
Developer Developer E&O Investor-claims carve-backs rarely equal full asset-manager coverage, leaving equity exposures unprotected.
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When a Growing Business Outgrows Its Coverage

A property management company expanded into raising capital and issuing offering documents, but its E&O form hadn’t evolved with the business. The policy excluded investor claims, leaving a critical exposure hidden in plain sight. Michael De Feo and the Jencap team rebuilt the program with Investment Manager E&O and D&O, aligning coverage with the company’s true operations and growth trajectory.

Michael De Feo
“The number-one reason E&O claims go uncovered is a disconnect between how ‘professional services’ is defined and what the client actually does.”
Michael De Feo Executive VP, Professional Lines Broker

Professional Liability: Lessons from the Healthcare Industry

Professional Liability steps in when professional advice or services lead to costly mistakes. No industry illustrates that better than healthcare. As Deborah Dioguardi, a Jencap healthcare specialist, explains, treating patients is just one task on providers’ to-do lists. They’re also managing technology, data, and compliance risks that move as fast as the medicine itself. How can you help them keep up

Looks Covered? Not So Fast.

Even well-structured professional liability programs can miss exposures, especially in fast-moving industries like healthcare. These are the gaps Dioguardi sees when policies haven’t kept pace with how care is delivered today.

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Procedure Exclusions

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Tech Liability

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claims made vs. occurrence mismatch

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Emerging Sectors. Escalating Exposures.

New care models are redefining where professional liability risk lives. Dioguardi flags these as hot spots worth keeping an eye on.

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Telehealth Platforms

Rapid expansion and uneven regulation create exposures that traditional forms struggle to define.

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Behavioral Health & Social Services

Heightened scrutiny, staffing shortages, and underinsurance amplify liability risk.

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Medical Spas

Policy language often lags behind procedures, leaving popular treatments like injectables uncovered.

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Ketamine & Alternative Therapy Clinics

Limited claims history and evolving standards deter standard carriers, pushing risks into the E&S market.

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Correctional Healthcare

Contracted care models blur lines of liability between providers and facilities.

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Home Healthcare

Expanding scopes of service introduce new negligence and abuse exposures.

Deborah Dioguardi
“Healthcare organizations evolve faster than their insurance programs. If you’re not asking the right questions, you’ll miss exposures that are already in play.”
Deborah Dioguardi Professional Lines National Practice Leader

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The Partner Behind the Policy: Jencap

Our specialists bring deep product knowledge, strong carrier partnerships, and the insight to structure coverage that actually performs when tested. No two accounts are alike, and that’s where Jencap thrives. We find the right solution, backed by the expertise and relationships to make it stick. That’s the advantage of partnering with a wholesale broker who knows these lines inside and out.

Partner with our specialists to structure smarter, stronger coverage for your next Professional Lines submission.

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Anthony Manna

EVP, Professional Lines Broker

631-873-7224

Jencap_Ed-Chadwick

Ed Chadwick

VP, Professional Lines Broker

716-270-3319

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Michael De Feo

EVP, Professional Lines Broker

516-526-8715

Jencap_Leadership_Deb

Deb Dioguardi

EVP, Professional Lines National Practice Leader

516-365-7440

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