Notary E&O insurance for remote notaries, compared
For a commissioned notary adding remote online work: five notary E&O sellers read against what a remote act needs from a policy, which of them say anything about remote or electronic acts, and where the policy stops and your bond and your platform's cover begin. No premiums, no ratings. More on bonds, fees and the paperwork of a one-person practice sits under running a remote notary business.
Insurer pages last checked
Best for a Florida online notary registering now
Its Florida remote online notary package carries the $25,000 E&O policy the state asks for, with the bond in the same order.
Best if you want a cyber-liability part
The surety says its E&O options include cyber liability, and it sells E&O alone if you already hold a bond.
Best if you want seal, journal and policy from one supplier
It sells state e-notary seals, an e-journal and E&O; its insurance pages say nothing on remote acts, so ask first.
Fig. 1Three covers in one remote act
A remote notary works under three kinds of cover at once, and only one of them is yours to claim on. The bond answers to the signer, the platform's policy answers for the platform, and your E&O policy is the one that defends you. Florida writes all three amounts into its statute, so it is the clearest place to see them side by side. The notary bond vs E&O insurance guide takes the bond half further.
| Question | Your notary bondBond | Your E&O policyYour E&O | The platform's E&OPlatform E&O |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it protects | The public: a person harmed by your breach of duty is paid from it. | You, against a claim that your act was done wrong or left something out. | The provider, for errors in its technology or processes. |
| Who pays in the end | You. The surety pays the claim, then you repay the surety in full. | The insurer, up to the limit; the surety we read says legal costs are covered even when a claim is groundless. | The provider's insurer. It does not answer for your own act. |
| Florida online notary | $25,000, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(6) | $25,000 minimum, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7) | $250,000 annual aggregate, Fla. Stat. § 117.295(5) |
| Who buys it | You, from a surety or its agent, in the amount your state sets. | You, your employer, or in Florida a RON service provider, as the definition allows. | The platform. You cannot buy it and it is not yours. |
Sources: Fla. Stat. ch. 117 and Merchants Bonding on bonds and E&O, read ; Florida's registration step in our rules file reads DOS registration; $25,000 bond + $25,000 E&O.
The policies, side by side
The rows are what a remote notary needs to know before buying, not what the sellers advertise. A check means the seller's own page says it; an em dash means the pages we read say nothing; the words mean the page points that way without saying it, so ask.
| Insurer or agency | Policy sold for remote online notary work (Florida requires online notaries to carry at least $25,000 of E&O, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7))Sold for remote online notary work | Covers electronic work or cyber risk, such as a cyber-liability partCovers electronic or cyber risk | Sold direct to the individual notarySold direct to the notary | Full policy wording or a sample policy published before you buyPolicy wording published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notary Public Underwriters | Meets | Not stated | Meets | Not stated |
| Notaries.com | Meets | Not stated | Meets | Not stated |
| Colonial Surety Company | check with the vendor | Meets | Meets | Not stated |
| American Association of Notaries | Not stated | Not stated | Meets | Not stated |
| Merchants Bonding Company | check with the vendor | Not stated | check with the vendor | Not stated |
Each insurer, read
Two of the five sell into Florida's online notary registration; one is a surety that sells direct; one is a supply house that also sells electronic notary seals and e-journals; one underwrites policies you buy through an agent.
Notary Public Underwriters
A notary bonding and supply agency, serving notaries since 1985, that sells notary E&O policies underwritten by Universal Surety of America, Western Surety Company and Surety Bonding Company of America.
A Florida notary registering as an online notary who wants the bond, course and E&O in one order.
- Policy sold for remote online notary work (Florida requires online notaries to carry at least $25,000 of E&O, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7))
- Meets
- Its Florida remote online notary package includes a $25,000 E&O policy, the amount Florida requires of online notaries. Ask for the wording on remote acts.
- Covers electronic work or cyber risk, such as a cyber-liability part
- Not stated
- Not on the pages read.
- Sold direct to the individual notary
- Meets
- Sold online by state to the individual notary, including notaries already commissioned.
- Full policy wording or a sample policy published before you buy
- Not stated
- The Florida page lists coverage amounts for a four-year term but no policy wording; ask for a sample policy.
Notaries.com
An Orlando agency that handles notary applications, bonds, courses and E&O policies, including a Florida online notary package.
A Florida notary who wants the online notary registration, the course and the required E&O in one package.
- Policy sold for remote online notary work (Florida requires online notaries to carry at least $25,000 of E&O, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7))
- Meets
- Its Florida online notary package includes $25,000 of E&O insurance with the $25,000 bond and the RON course. Ask for the wording on remote acts.
- Covers electronic work or cyber risk, such as a cyber-liability part
- Not stated
- Not on the pages read.
- Sold direct to the individual notary
- Meets
- Bought online by the individual notary.
- Full policy wording or a sample policy published before you buy
- Not stated
- The page says the policy runs with your notary term, but publishes no policy wording; ask for a sample policy.
Colonial Surety Company
A surety company selling notary bonds direct, with notary and loan signing agent packages that add E&O and cyber liability, or E&O alone.
A notary who wants E&O with a cyber-liability part, bought straight from the surety.
- Policy sold for remote online notary work (Florida requires online notaries to carry at least $25,000 of E&O, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7))
- check with the vendor
- The company presents its Notary Package for remote and tech-driven notary work but does not say remote acts are covered. Ask before you buy.
- Covers electronic work or cyber risk, such as a cyber-liability part
- Meets
- The company says its E&O options include cyber liability coverage.
- Sold direct to the individual notary
- Meets
- Bought online direct from the surety; E&O can be bought alone if you already have a bond.
- Full policy wording or a sample policy published before you buy
- Not stated
- No policy wording on the page read; ask for a sample policy.
American Association of Notaries
A Houston notary supply company and insurance agency selling state e-notary seals, an e-notary journal, and E&O policies underwritten by CNA Surety companies.
A notary who wants the seal, journal and E&O policy from one supplier, set to one state.
- Policy sold for remote online notary work (Florida requires online notaries to carry at least $25,000 of E&O, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7))
- Not stated
- The E&O pages read say nothing about remote online notarization; ask the vendor.
- Covers electronic work or cyber risk, such as a cyber-liability part
- Not stated
- Not on the pages read.
- Sold direct to the individual notary
- Meets
- Ordered online by state; the Texas page sets the policy to the years left on your commission.
- Full policy wording or a sample policy published before you buy
- Not stated
- The pages name the underwriters but publish no policy wording; ask for a sample policy.
Merchants Bonding Company
A surety company that underwrites notary bonds and notary E&O policies sold through its agents, among them the National Notary Association.
A notary checking who stands behind an E&O policy bought through an agent such as the NNA.
- Policy sold for remote online notary work (Florida requires online notaries to carry at least $25,000 of E&O, Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7))
- check with the vendor
- A 2020 article on its site says remote acts done under a state's emergency order generally should be covered if they followed the order. It says nothing on today's RON laws; ask the agent.
- Covers electronic work or cyber risk, such as a cyber-liability part
- Not stated
- Not on the pages read.
- Sold direct to the individual notary
- check with the vendor
- The company says it does not issue policies directly to notaries; you buy through an agent such as the NNA.
- Full policy wording or a sample policy published before you buy
- Not stated
- The pages say its notary E&O policies carry no deductible and cover legal costs, but publish no wording.
Does your policy cover a remote act?
No insurer page we read says, in policy language, that a remote online notarization is a covered act. What exists is a statute that requires the policy, an insurer that sells it with a remote registration package, and two industry notices that set conditions on cover. Read together, they point the same way: a remote act is covered when it was done the way your state's rule says, and when nothing in the policy carves it out.
“covered by an errors and omissions insurance policy from an insurer authorized to transact business in this state, in the minimum amount of $25,000”
Florida is the clearest case. An online notary registers with evidence of that policy, and the same chapter lets the policy be held by the notary, the notary's employer or the remote online notarization service provider. If your platform says it insures you, ask it for the certificate that names you; the provider's own $250,000 cover under § 117.295(5) is for its technology and processes, not your act. The full Florida path is in our Florida online notary requirements guide, and the platforms Florida notaries use are in RON platforms for Florida notaries, compared.
The other notice comes from the title side. When the Title Industry Assurance Company added cover for remote and electronic notarization “when in compliance with state requirements”, its claims counsel told policyholders: “Make sure that your policy's notary services provisions do not eliminate coverage for RON services” (ALTA, ). If you sign for title companies, that sentence is the one to carry into your own renewal. Title and escrow work has its own platform needs, set out in RON platforms for title and escrow, compared.
Compliance is therefore the condition every source names. A remote act with a missing journal entry, an identity check your state does not accept or a recording you cannot produce is the act a claim will test. The journal entry check and the session recording requirements cover the two records most often asked for.
Questions to send before you buy
Every gap in the table is a question, and the answer that counts is the one in writing. Pick the questions that fit your work and send them to the insurer or agent before you pay. It pairs with the RON readiness checklist and the order of steps in how to start a remote notary business.
E&O questions for the insurer or agent, juratkit.com
Questions for the insurer or agent
Tick the questions that fit your work, then copy them as an email. Pre-ticked for a remote notary outside Florida.
8 of 9 questions in the email.
How we compared
Questions notaries ask
Is notary E&O insurance the same as a notary bond?
No. The bond protects the public: if a claim is paid from it, you repay the surety. Errors and omissions insurance protects you, paying a covered claim against your act up to the limit, and the surety we read says legal costs are covered even when the claim is groundless. The notary bond vs E&O insurance guide goes through both.
Do I need E&O insurance to be a remote online notary?
It depends on your state. Florida requires an online notary to show at least $25,000 of E&O when registering (Fla. Stat. § 117.225(7)). Of the 12 states in our rules file, Florida is the one whose registration step names an E&O amount; check your own state's current rule, and the terms of any platform or title company you work for. The steps to a remote commission are in how to become a remote online notary.
Does my regular notary E&O policy cover remote notarizations?
None of the insurers we read publishes policy wording that says so. A 2020 article on Merchants Bonding's site said remote acts done under emergency orders generally should be covered when they followed the order; for today's remote notary laws, get the insurer's answer in writing.
Does the RON platform's insurance cover me?
Not for your own act, as a rule. In Florida a RON service provider must carry at least $250,000 of E&O for errors in its technology or processes (Fla. Stat. § 117.295(5)). Florida also lets a provider hold the online notary's own policy; if a platform says it does, ask for the certificate that names you.
How much E&O should a remote notary carry?
Florida's floor for online notaries is $25,000. A platform that sends you signings or a title company you sign for may ask for more, so read their terms before you pick a limit. The platforms that route signings to notaries are compared in RON platforms that send notaries signings.
Which is the best notary E&O insurance?
The one whose written wording covers the acts you perform. We pick by use case, not by price: a Florida registration package, a policy with a cyber-liability part, or one supplier for seal, journal and policy. The verdicts at the top of this page name each.
Related
- Notary invoice templateInvoice your own notarial fees; a line above your state's cap is flagged.
- RON readiness checklistYour state's steps before a first remote act, ticked off one by one.
- Notary session fee ledgerLog your sessions and fees; the ledger totals them and flags any line over the state's cap.
- Online commission and certificate term checkCheck that your digital certificate does not expire before your commission does.
- Notary bond vs E&O insuranceWhat the state-required bond protects, what E&O protects, and whether a remote commission changes either.