Professional Liability

Mistakes happen and all real estate professionals, including realtors, property managers, inspectors, appraisers, energy auditors, and mortgage officers, need protection from claims made due to errors and/or omissions from their professional services.  The fact is that you can’t be everywhere and often you can’t personally handle every job.  Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions) coverage insures not only mistakes arising from the rendering of or failure to render professional services, but it also covers the mistakes of the employees and independent contractors you hire.

The primary reason for professional liability coverage, also known as Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance, is because a general liability doesn’t cover these instances.  General liability insurance covers claims of bodily injury and property damage only, and typically excludes coverage for claims related to the delivery of professional services.  Individuals or companies who have general liability without professional liability insurance are taking a serious risk.  It’s like a doctor practicing medicine without malpractice insurance.  Professionals are expected to have extensive technical knowledge or training in their particular area of expertise and they are expected to perform the services for which they were hired, according to the standard of conduct in their profession.  If they fail to use the degree of skill expected of them, they can be held responsible in a court of law.

Professional liability provides protection against claims that you become legally obligated to pay as a result of an error or omission in the course or delivery of professional work.  Common reasons alleged in making claims on these policies are negligence, misrepresentation, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and inaccurate advice. This coverage protects you and your business from claims if your client holds you responsible for errors or the failure of your work to perform as promised in your contract.  Coverage includes legal defense costs, regardless of how baseless the allegations might be, because whether a claim is baseless or not, mounting a legal defense can bankrupt your company.  In addition, it will also pay for any resulting judgments against you, including court costs, up to the coverage limits on your policy.

Professional liability insurance policies are generally set up based on a claims-made basis, meaning that the policy only covers incidents that occurred during the time frame in which the coverage was active. It is important to continue your coverage, because cancelling the policy, will in effect, make it as if you never had coverage.

Insurance For Investors has a great deal of experience in E&O coverage for real estate professionals, in all industries, and we have many professional liability companies to quote through.

Call us today at (512) 501-4010 or (800) 299-8994 to see how we can help you.  You may also email us at Info@InsuranceForInvestors.com for more information and we will be happy to contact you back to discuss your specific needs.