Profession
Professional liability insurance for Marketing Agencies
Full-service and specialty agencies with multiple staff and vendors.
Risks we see most
What actually goes wrong.
- Campaign underperformance
- Copyright & IP claims
- Contract disputes across vendors
Quick qualifier
LiveGet My Rates
We shop up to 10 A-rated carriers and email your best options, usually within minutes.
Illustrative claim scenarios
How a policy responds.
Ad spend dispute
Client sought return of $95k budget after campaign missed targets.
Scenarios are illustrative examples of how this coverage is designed to respond — they are not actual client cases, and coverage always depends on policy terms and underwriting.
Where you work
Marketing Agencies coverage, state by state.
What professional liability covers for Marketing Agencies
Agencies concentrate every marketing exposure in one entity: campaign performance disputes, IP claims from creative, errors in client ad spend, defamation in comparative work, and — as agencies hold more customer data and ad-account access — breach liability. Agency E&O (usually written with media liability as one form) responds when clients allege the agency’s professional work caused financial loss, and it’s the policy AOR contracts and procurement portals demand before onboarding.
The agency-specific pattern worth insuring around: subcontractor chains. Freelancers and production partners do much of the work, but the client’s claim lands on the agency. Strong agency programs pair E&O/media (see media liability) with cyber liability for held data and hijacked ad accounts, an office BOP, and workers comp once there’s a payroll. Media-buying agencies should confirm coverage for errors in placement and spend execution specifically.
What marketing agencies typically pay
Agency E&O pricing is driven by revenue, media-buying volume (spend under management), regulated-client mix, and claims history.
| Business profile | Typical annual E&O premium range* |
|---|---|
| Micro-agency, under $250k revenue | ~$900 – $2,000 |
| Agency, $250k–$1M revenue | ~$1,500 – $4,000 |
| Agency with paid-media management, $1M–$3M revenue | ~$3,000 – $8,000 |
| Agency $3M+ revenue or heavy regulated-industry work | ~$6,000 – $15,000+ |
*Illustrative market ranges based on typical small-business placements; your premium depends on revenue, limits, claims history, contracts, and carrier appetite. Not a quote or offer of coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Our freelancers made the error. Are we still liable?
To your client, yes — the contract is with the agency, and the claim will name the agency. Your E&O responds; recovery from the freelancer is a separate (often impractical) exercise. Require certificates from key subcontractors, but insure as if the work is yours, because contractually it is.
A client claims our campaign defamed a competitor. Which policy responds?
Media liability — the advertising-injury sibling of E&O that covers defamation, disparagement, and IP claims arising from creative work. Agencies should buy E&O and media as one integrated form so a claim that blends “bad work” and “unlawful content” can’t fall between two policies.
We manage six figures of monthly ad spend. Does E&O cover spend errors?
Errors in executing media buys — wrong targeting, budgets left running, misallocated spend — are among the most concrete agency claims and are insurable under agency E&O forms that contemplate media buying. Disclose spend under management at application; it’s a rating factor and you want it in the file.
What limits do enterprise clients require from agencies?
$1M per claim is the floor in most MSAs; $2M appears regularly for larger engagements, sometimes with umbrella requirements on the GL side. Match the highest active contract, and remember defense costs erode limits on most E&O forms — a bruising claim can consume a $1M limit before settlement.
Related: media liability · cyber liability · independent marketers.