If someone believes that a company promises something and then that company doesn’t deliver on that promise, even if nothing was in writing, it can still turn into a professional liability claim.
Years ago, we had a client that installed conveyor systems. At the time, in San Jose, there were still a lot of canneries and factories needing conveyor systems. This company would put in the conveyor systems with the rollers, and the cans would go shooting down to get to the next spot in the cannery.
Our client had a contract with this one cannery to put in a conveyor system. Our client had suggested that these conveyors would move cans from one side of the warehouse to the other in a certain number of seconds, but after it was installed, it didn’t live up to that promise, costing their customer lost productivity and lost revenue.
The client got sued. Nobody got hurt, nothing burned down, and nothing happened that would trigger a general liability policy, so this was a professional liability claim. Even if there was nothing in writing saying that the conveyor would move the cans from one point to the other in so many seconds, if someone believed that was the representation on the part of the contractor, they’re subject to being held accountable. Many businesses have significant Professional Liability exposures but don’t even think about the coverage…