Your host agency carries errors and omissions coverage. That is a fact about the host's insurance, not about yours.
Whether that policy protects you, at what limit, for which bookings, and for how long after you leave, is answered in the independent contractor agreement you signed — usually in a paragraph most agents read once, at signup, in a hurry.
Named insured or additional insured
Start here, because everything else follows from it.
A named insured is a party the policy was written for. They have their own rights under it, including the right to make a claim and to receive notice if the policy is cancelled.
An additional insured is added by endorsement, usually for liability arising out of a specific relationship. The coverage is narrower and it exists at the discretion of the named insured — the host can remove you, change the limit, or let the policy lapse, and you may find out afterward.
Most independent contractors under a host are the second one, when they are covered at all. Some agreements say plainly that the host's E&O does not extend to contractors and that you are required to carry your own.
A shared limit is a race
Say the host carries $1 million per claim and $3 million aggregate, covering forty independent agents.
That aggregate is the total the carrier will pay across everyone for the policy year. If three agents produce large claims in the same twelve months, the money can be gone before yours is decided. You have no control over the other thirty-nine people drawing on the same limit, and no way to know how much is left.
Your own policy has one name on it.
Claims-made coverage ends when the relationship does
Professional liability responds to claims reported during the policy period, not to work performed during it. This is the detail that catches agents who leave a host.
You book a cruise in March. In June you leave the host and go independent. In November the client files a complaint about the March booking. The host's policy — the one that would have covered that booking — is a policy you are no longer under. Your new policy, if its retroactive date is the day you bought it, does not reach back to March either.
The booking falls between two policies. It is one of the most common gaps in this business, and it is invisible until someone makes a claim.
Four questions for your host agreement
Pull up the contract and search for the answers:
- Does the host's E&O extend to independent contractors? If the agreement is silent, assume it does not.
- What is the limit, and is it shared or per-agent? Ask for the number in writing.
- What happens to coverage for your bookings after you leave? Ask specifically about work performed while you were contracted.
- Are you required to carry your own? Many agreements require it and also require you to name the host as an additional insured on your policy.
Ask for a certificate of insurance from the host and read who is listed. A certificate showing only the host's name tells you what you need to know.
What your own policy fixes
Coverage in your own name follows you between hosts, keeps its retroactive date when you change carriers, and cannot be cancelled by a business decision someone else makes. It also satisfies the requirement in the host agreement, which is often what prompts the purchase in the first place.
The retroactive date is the part to protect. When you switch carriers, ask the new one to match the date on your existing policy rather than issuing with a current-day date — otherwise every booking you have made so far is left behind.