July 14, 2014

The term “professional services” is not a defined term in our policy. How does this bear upon coverage?

Kentucky Subscriber

If the term is not defined in the policy, that leaves it up to a court to decide what a professional service is. The main guideline that courts use is: professional service means the occupation that one professes to be skilled in and to follow, and involves the vocation in which a professed knowledge of some department of learning or science is used in the application to the affairs of others. In other words, a professional service is one that requires either higher education (such as a doctor or lawyer) or experience and knowledge in a subject that the ordinary man on the street would not have (such as an electrician or plumber).

So, the decision as to the meaning and thus, the coverage provided, is really on a case by case basis with reliance on the acts of the person. You might want to check with an attorney who is familiar with the law in your area as to how the courts there define professional services. Also, check with the insurer to see if that entity has somewhere defined a professional service and what it includes in that term. Without some prior guidelines, the insurer could claim no coverage based on what it deems a professional service is whenever a claim arises.

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