E & O Insurance

[thomtax]

For those of you that carry E & O insurance, would you mind sharing which company that you use and what your opinion of their service is to you.

Also, interested in knowing about people that do not carry and their view.

Thanks.

[Bill Tubbs]

Legalized gambling...

All insurance is legalized gambling. That doesn't mean I don't do any insurance -- car & auto insurance IMHO are a necessity as those can be big $$$.

IMO, E&O insurance depends partly on what your business does, who your clients are, and who your employees are. I don't have E&O. I work alone (so no employees to worry about goofing up), nearly all of my 200 clients are < $100,000 AGI, and I have a very good relationship with most of my clients (who are either all friends or friends of friends). So, the few times I have goofed I've offered to pay either the penalty or interest&penalty (depending on the relationship and the $ amount).

Bill

[Mike Mac]

What does it cost

My practice is similar to Bill's but with a few more clients. Out of curiousity, what does an E&O policy cost for that kind of client base? I'd call a broker but I don't want to be harrassed with sales calls.

[taxmandan]

E &amp; O

Company is EZ Insurance Solutions, 1-866-225-8464. I've been very satisfied with their service, maybe because I've never had a claim, Heh!

The few times I've made a mistake on a return, I pay the penalty and once paid the interest for the client, never paid out more than $250.

Whether to get the insurance comes down to what assets you own and how much you want to keep them should that odd nutjob decide you were to blame for his misfortune with the tax authorities. Forget about any court judgement against you, the cost of legal help to fight the charges will bankrupt most of us. The insurance buys you legal representation.

TheIRS somewhere said that in every instance, the tax payer blames the preparer for the "mistake/ fraud/ misreporting" on their return. Unless it was self-prepared then it was the system.

[OldJack]

Like the other posts I have never had E&O insurance. In all my years I only had one corporate client have their lawyer call. When I told him I had no insurance and to take his best shot at me as his client owed me (over $12,000). I never heard from them again.

Likewise, I never collected (my work on audit) amount owed me as the business closed with huge debts. They were mad as my audit discovered that the officer had taken pension money out of the bank trust fund for operating expenses and also the treasurer was hiding the fact that all year payroll taxes (6 figures) had not been paid to the IRS.

[thomtax]

Thanks -

to all who replied. I am posting here to bring the subject back to the top of the list in hopes of getting some more pro and con thoughts.

[oceanlovin'ea]

Yes, I would like someone who has the insurance to tell us what the cost is. I know I should consider it, but I would like to have a ballpark figure before I contact one of the agencies and get lots (more) mail from them.

Linda F

[S T]

E &amp; O

Linda and others,

I did finally do E & O for the tax practice, and I have always had to carry it for my Insurance Business.

EZ Solutions has a combined, but the premium increased about $300 this last year, so I am reconsidering about the tax practice.

For the insurance portion of my business it costs about $400-$500 depending, but with the tax practice portion added jumped to $1100.

If you belong to your local EA chapter, check with them, as sometimes they have special deals through the EA chapter.

Sandy

[S T]

?? Curious

I would be curious to know how many of the EA's at least on this board carry the E & O insurance for their practice.

If I knew how to do the poll I would set it up, but I dont, so maybe Black Bart will come in behind me and do the poll. I am overloaded on computer technology right now, so can't spend the time to figure out how to post the poll.

Sandy

[Rlmea]

E&amp;O insurance

I have it through EZ Insurance Solutions, 1-866-225-8464.

I am a sole practioner with no employees. Gross revenues are approx $75,000 consisting of 40% tax work, and 60% bookkeeping. My deductible is $1,000 for $100,000 coverage per claim; $250,000 aggregate. The annual premium is $496.

RLMEA

[thomtax]

Thanks Rlmea

I have it through EZ Insurance Solutions, 1-866-225-8464.

I am a sole practioner with no employees. Gross revenues are approx $75,000 consisting of 40% tax work, and 60% bookkeeping. My deductible is $1,000 for $100,000 coverage per claim; $250,000 aggregate. The annual premium is $496.

RLMEA

I appreciate your pricing info.

I would really like to see how many EAs do not carry the insurance. If someone could tell me how to set up a poll, maybe we could get an idea.

LT

[Black Bart]

Thom -- Polling

I would really like to see how many EAs do not carry the insurance. If someone could tell me how to set up a poll, maybe we could get an idea.

LT

Mick-Mack (or sump'n like that) got to it first, but here's what you do.

When you first come onto the board, go up to the top left of the screen and click on the
blue "New Thread" button.

When the blank box that you type your messages on comes up, then type in whatever comments you want to make about the poll (this is not the poll itself).

Then, without submitting that, scroll down to the bottom of the page to "Addditional Options" and click the box "Post a Poll" and type in the number of answer choices you want to allow.

After that......shoot....I forgot. Well, anyway, you should be far enough along that you can wing it from there. If you can't dope it out after that, post a new thread entitled "BRAD-PAUL--HELP!" They are the owners/ringmasters of this zoo and will usually help a stranded motorist if he/she is not too obnoxious.

[taxmandan]

I just renewed with EZ Insurance, my deductible is $1,000 for $100,000 coverage per claim; $250,000 aggregate annual premium is $438. My office is 90% tax prep/representation, 10% bookkeeping/payroll.