The MPL Minute #6

Delivering thoughtful solutions through clear exposure understanding and disciplined underwriting.

This issue of the MPL Minute features a hypothetical—but highly realistic—case study to illustrate how the Miscellaneous Professional Liability (MPL) team at Westfield Specialty uses creative, tailored solutions to support clients with complex professional exposures. These scenarios reflect the kinds of challenges our MPL team helps solve every day.

Reading Beyond the Labels

A broker needed to place coverage for a consulting firm supporting school districts and government commission entities. The consulting firm’s services included designing manual compliance reviews, providing contract document feedback, financial tracking during construction, and project closeout support. Nothing about their work involved technical design or fiduciary responsibility yet several insurance carriers decided not to quote coverage for the consulting firm.

The issue wasn’t the exposure. It was the misclassification.

Insurance carriers saw document review and financial tracking as automatic indicators of Architects & Engineers (A&E) or Financial Institutions (FI) Professional Liability. However, the firm does no architectural or engineering design, assumes no technical responsibility, and provides no financial advisory or fiduciary services. Their role is strictly professional consulting.

Meanwhile, the A&E, FI, and E&O markets continue to narrow, with carriers with a diminished appetite and who step away from ambiguous service classes. As a result, firms adjacent to design or financial work often get overlooked —even when the exposure clearly doesn’t fit.

A Broker Looking for a Carrier Who Understands and Analyzes the File

Unable to place coverage for a long‑standing client, the broker needed a carrier willing to understand what the insured actually does, rather than relying on assumptions based on terminology.

Westfield Specialty’s Approach: Accurate Exposure Identification

Our underwriters reviewed the full-service description:

Regional planning consulting
School design manual compliance reviews
Financial tracking during construction
Project closeout support
Owner’s representative services

Each activity aligns with Miscellaneous Professional Liability, where the core exposure is errors in professional judgment—not design work, not engineering risk, and not financial decision‑making.

By correctly classifying the exposure and applying MPL expertise, Westfield Specialty provided the solution the broker needed when other carriers could not.

Thoughtful underwriting and accurate exposure analysis allowed us to offer terms where others could not, help the broker retain an important client, and demonstrate the value of our MPL team’s experience and value driven approach.

Connect with the MPL Team

Whether you have a complex professional exposure to discuss, need guidance on structuring MPL coverage, or simply want to learn more about our appetite, Dan Mogelnicki, SVP, MPL Product Leader and his team are here to help.

Dan Mogelnicki
SVP, MPL Product Leader
Westfield Specialty
631.496.6641
danielmogelnicki@westfieldgrp.com

Northeast

Soraya Penix Emma Andersen

Underwriter Underwriter

317.767.4582 212.814.4792

sorayapenix@westfieldgrp.com emmaandersen@westfieldgrp.com

Southeast

Joseph Kloc Mackenzie Walsh

AVP, Senior Underwriter Underwriter

470.650.8186 404.971.2264

josephkloc@westfieldgrp.com mackenziewalsh@westfieldgrp.com

Central