Coverage & policies
What insurance do independent consultants typically need?
Most enterprise clients require at least two policies. First, Commercial General Liability (GL) — typically $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate — which covers bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury claims. Second, Professional Liability / Errors & Omissions (E&O) — typically $1M per claim — which covers financial losses your client suffers because of mistakes in your work. Beyond the policies themselves, contracts usually require you to (a) name the client as an Additional Insured on your GL policy, and (b) include a Waiver of Subrogation so your insurer cannot sue the client to recover claims payments.
What is an additional insured endorsement?
An additional insured endorsement extends your GL policy to cover a named third party — usually your client — as if they were a policyholder. If a claim arises from your work, the client can be defended under your policy rather than having to use their own. Enterprise procurement teams almost always require this before they will sign a contract. Fennel automatically adds the correct entity name (pulled directly from your contract) to the endorsement when you bind.
What is a waiver of subrogation, and why do clients require it?
Subrogation is an insurer's right to sue a negligent third party to recover money paid out on a claim. A Waiver of Subrogation means your insurer gives up that right against your client. Clients require it to avoid being sued by your insurance company after a covered loss. Fennel includes the waiver on every policy by default because it is requested in the vast majority of enterprise MSAs.
What is E&O insurance, and do I need it as a consultant?
Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance — also called Professional Liability — covers financial losses your client suffers as a result of mistakes, omissions, or failures in the professional services you deliver. GL covers physical harm; E&O covers economic harm. Most management consulting, IT consulting, and other knowledge-work contracts require both. If your work involves advice, software, designs, or analysis — you almost certainly need E&O.
Does Fennel operate in all 50 states?
General Liability coverage is available in all 50 states. Professional Liability (E&O) coverage is available in 39 states through our primary carrier. If you are in one of the states without E&O availability (CO, FL, LA, MA, MN, MT, NH, ND, NY, VA, or DC), Fennel will notify you during quoting, and we are actively adding coverage in those states.
Getting insured
How long does it take to get insured through Fennel?
For most consultants, the full process — uploading the contract, reviewing AI-extracted requirements, getting a quote, binding, and receiving the COI — takes under 10 minutes. The AI parses the contract in seconds; the quote is generated in under 60 seconds; binding is instant. COI delivery to your client typically arrives within a few minutes of binding.
Do I need to speak to a broker?
No. Fennel is designed to be fully self-serve. You upload your contract, review the AI extraction, confirm the quote, and bind — all in your browser without speaking to anyone. If you have questions, you can reach us at hello@fennel.insure, but for standard GL and E&O coverages, no broker conversation is required.
Can I get insured before my contract start date?
Yes. You set the policy start date during the quoting process. You can bind a policy that starts today or up to 30 days in the future. The COI is generated immediately after binding and shows the correct effective and expiration dates.
What happens when my policy is about to expire?
Fennel sends renewal alerts at 60 days and 30 days before expiry. The alert email links directly to the renewal flow for that specific policy — not a generic reminder. On the Pro and Agency plans, renewal alerts are automated. On the Free plan, you will still receive email notifications.
Pricing & cost
How much does business insurance cost for independent consultants?
Premiums vary based on your revenue, state, coverage limits, and profession. As a rough guide: GL-only ($1M/$2M) typically runs $600–$900/year for a solo consultant with under $500K revenue. Adding E&O ($1M/$1M) typically adds $400–$800/year. Fennel shows you the exact annual premium before you commit to anything. Insurance premiums are billed directly by the carrier — Fennel earns a broker commission and does not add a surcharge.
Does Fennel charge extra on top of the insurance premium?
No. Insurance premiums are billed directly by our carrier partner — you pay the carrier, not Fennel. Fennel earns a standard 10–15% broker commission from the carrier, which is already factored into the quoted premium (the same way any licensed broker is compensated). Fennel also offers an optional SaaS subscription (Free / Pro / Agency) that gives you additional features like unlimited COI exports, AI parsing, and renewal alerts.
What does the free plan include?
The Free plan includes up to 3 COI exports (lifetime), 2 active policies, and AI contract parsing. It is enough to get through a first client engagement. When you need unlimited exports, renewal alerts, or CRM integration, the Pro plan is $29/month.
COIs & documents
What is a Certificate of Insurance (COI)?
A Certificate of Insurance is a one-page document (typically on the ACORD 25 form) that summarizes your active coverage — insurer name, policy number, coverage types, limits, and effective dates — and names who the certificate is issued to (the certificate holder). Procurement teams use COIs to verify you are insured before a contract goes live. Fennel generates and delivers COIs automatically after you bind a policy.
What is an ACORD 25?
ACORD 25 is the industry-standard form for Certificates of Liability Insurance, maintained by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development. When a client's procurement team asks for a "COI," they almost always mean an ACORD 25. Fennel generates proper ACORD 25-formatted certificates that are accepted by enterprise procurement departments.
What file types can I upload for contract parsing?
Fennel accepts PDF and Word (.docx) documents. The AI parser works best with digitally-generated PDFs (not scanned images). If your MSA is in a scanned image PDF, AI extraction accuracy may be lower and we will flag uncertain fields for manual review.
About Fennel
Is Fennel a licensed insurance broker?
Yes. Fennel Insurance Brokerage LLC is a licensed commercial insurance broker. We are licensed in California (license pending) and are expanding state licenses. As your broker of record, Fennel represents you in the placement of coverage — not the insurance carrier.
Who is the insurance carrier behind Fennel?
Fennel places coverage through Coterie Insurance, a surplus-lines and admitted carrier that specializes in small commercial policies. Coterie is AM Best-rated and backs coverage in all 50 states (GL) and 39 states (E&O). Fennel is the broker; Coterie is the carrier that holds the risk and issues the policies.
How is Fennel different from other insurance marketplaces?
Most insurance marketplaces ask you to fill out a form describing what you need, then present you with generic quotes. Fennel reads your actual client contract and tells you what it requires — then gets the right quote. The difference is critical when enterprise MSAs have specific endorsement language, named additional insureds, or non-standard limit requirements. Fennel also handles COI delivery to procurement directly, closing the loop.
Still have questions?
Our team reviews every message. If you have a question about a specific contract clause or coverage requirement, email us with your MSA attached and we'll review it.