Surveyors Professional Liability Insurance

The Risk Specialty Group works to help professionals in the design process face the challenges of today’s litigious society. With surveyors professional liability insurance you can rest at ease knowing your business is protected. Surveyors have a special role in the building process and yet find themselves in equally sticky situations without the help of a professional liability insurance policy. In most situations, a general liability policy won’t cover all legal fees and court costs associated with an errors and omissions claim. Without proper coverage, your personal and business finances are at risk.

Professional Liability Coverage For Surveyors

Architects, engineers, and surveyors belong to a special group of professionals who constantly contribute to society in tangible ways. However, in today’s litigious society, these roles also carry huge risks and responsibilities. As one of the top professional liability insurance companies for surveyors, The Risk Specialty Group seeks to match you with the best carrier and coverage for your company.

  • Specialized Services – Work with experts who understand your profession. We’ve spent years dedicated to understanding and serving those in the design world.
  • Secure Growth Opportunities – For small and medium-sized firms without large assets, a single legal claim can leave firms unable to recover. Think about the future endeavors you are looking forward to and sleep easier knowing you can achieve them with professional liability coverage for surveyors.
  • Unexpected Results – Whether you’ve been working with an agent for years or are interested in liability coverage for the first time, most of our customers are astounded to discover they can have lower insurance rates and such attentive service at the same time.

What is covered under professional liability insurance?

Professional Liability (Errors & Omissions) insurance covers you during times a client or 3rd party demands services or money for an alleged wrongful act (or mistake) by you or your firm.  Typical demands covered under professional liability insurance can include:

  • An actual lawsuit from a client claiming your service or design contained an error or omission that has now created Bodily Injury, Property Damage and/or Financial Loss
  • A lawsuit from a 3rd party claiming Bodily Injury, Property Damage and/or Financial Loss from either your mistake or a project you worked on
  • A nasty email (or letter) from a client asking you to fix a costly mistake

As you can see, Professional Liability is meant to protect a professional in the performance of their professional services.  Professional services can include, but are not limited to:

  • Architects & Engineers
  • Surveyors
  • Environmental Consultants
  • Accountants
  • Lawyers
  • Doctors & Dentists
  • Real Estate Agents & Appraisers
  • Health Care Professionals

Many Professional Liability policies only cover economic or financial losses of third parties. This is fine for many professionals like business consultants, real estate agents or accountants. However, professionals like architects and engineers require bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) coverage to be included due to the nature of their services.

Some carriers are now starting to include Cyber & Network Liability as a part of their policy to help provide some coverage for firms in delivering their services digitally.

Understanding the differences in coverage between the various policy forms of carriers can be complicated. We have access to over twenty (20) professional liability carriers that have tailored policies for design professionals and consultants.

What does professional liability cost?

Professional Liability can cost anywhere from $700 per year to 5% of your Gross Revenues depending on what type of Professional Liability policy you want and the Services you provide.

There are so many different insurance carriers offering Professional Liability these days and there can be serious differences between what is covered under each carrier’s policy that it makes comparing policies a bit complicated.

However, we can help you decipher the differences between the various policies by giving you clear choices based on your desired coverage and price point.

What is the difference between professional and general liability insurance?

In short, Professional Liability (errors & omissions) covers you for your Professional negligence.  General Liability covers you for claims involving Non-Professional negligence.

Professional negligence are claims dealing with your consulting, services or design work as an accountant, lawyer, engineer, etc.

Non-Professional negligence are claims dealing with your premises or business operations.  An example is a client slipping-and-falling at your office.  It was during business operations, but did not involve the delivery of your professional services.

EX:  An architect designing a house is in need of Professional Liability to protect them for their design work.  However, the general contractor that is building the house is in need of General Liability.

There are often other misunderstandings between Professional Liability and General Liability insurance, which can be seen in contracts or agreements between you and your clients. Many times, agreements will include requirements that are appropriate for General Liability, such as naming your client as an “additional insured”, but are not appropriate or unavailable under the Professional Liability policy. This is why it is invaluable to have an experienced insurance agent on your team that can review your agreements in a timely manner and represents your best interests.

Another area of confusion between Professional Liability and General Liability is in how claims are reported. Most General Liability policies are written on an “occurrence” basis. Coverage on an occurrence policy is determined by the date that the situation giving rise to the claim occurred. Not when the claim is reported with the carrier.

Professional Liability policies are written on a “claims-made” basis. This difference is significant. Under a claims-made policy, the availability of coverage is determined by the date that a claim is first reported. Below is an example on which carrier responds under the different policy types:

Claims-Made—A new claim is filed in 2019 while XYZ Insurance Company’s policy is in effect. Therefore, XYZ Insurance Company would respond to the claim even if the insured was with a different insurance carrier back in 2015 when the event leading to the claim occurred.

Occurrence—The event leading to the claim occurred in 2015 while ABC Insurance Company’s policy was in effect. Thus, ABC Insurance Company’s would respond to the claim even though the insured is currently covered by XYZ Insurance Company when the claim is filed in 2019.

Learn more about the difference between General and Professional Liability.

Do I need professional liability?

The need for Professional Liability (E&O) is created by the type of services you are providing.  Depending on the type of services you are providing, there is usually not a legal requirement to carry Professional Liability.  The need is typically driven by either:

  • Your desire to protect yourself and your firm
  • Contractual requirements with a client

Many people may argue that purchasing Professional Liability just puts a “target” on your back for lawsuits.  And this may be true in a small number of cases.  But eventually, you get to a point in your career and in the maturation of your firm that you are not willing to chance it.  Protecting your firm becomes important to you and your employees to know they are covered in the event of a mistake, or just getting roped into a bad situation because you are involved in the same project.

If you are interested in learning more about how Professional Liability can protect you during a claim, feel free to Contact Us.

What is the purpose of professional liability?

The purpose of Professional Liability (E&O) is to provide you with protection from financial loss during a claim or lawsuit against you and/or your firm.  Protection includes:

  • Organization of the legal team to defend you in the lawsuit
  • Advice on “next steps” and what to do and what not to do
  • Claim and court expenses including expert witnesses
  • Reimbursement of lost earnin for depositions and court appearances
  • Payment on any damages awarded the claimant

All of these costs and expenses are within the policy limits and are subject to your Deductible.  It is important that you work with a Risk Management specialist to help you understand the various policies by giving you clear choices based on your desired coverage and price point.

Why is professional liability important?

Professional Liability is important because it can mean the difference between shutting down your business due to a costly claim and keeping your doors open because you have transferred the cost of the claim to the insurance carrier.

A second, and maybe less important, the reason is that there are times a client may require Professional Liability as a contractual requirement.

Custom Coverage At A Competitive Price

Surveyors Professional Liability Insurance 1

Just a Quote

Already know what Insurance your company needs?  Fill out our applications to get a quote.

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Conversation then a Quote

Unsure about what you really need?  Talk with one of our licensed Insurance Agents for advice and next steps.

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Full 360° Review

Need a comprehensive review of your company’s exposures? Let one of our licensed Insurance and Risk Managers give you a free in-depth risk analysis.

What Our Clients Are Saying

Benefits of Working With Our Professional Responsibility and Risk Management Firm

As experts in the design field, there is a certain burden that comes along with making calculations and taking measurements that have a great impact on the finished product. While saving costs may be at the top of your company’s priorities, the one place not to skimp is insurance. It is important to protect not only your business but your personal property and equipment as well, from the pits of legal downfall.

Professional liability insurance for surveyors is often looked at as unnecessary or useless until the day comes when you need it. Talk to the Risk Specialty Group liability insurance company for surveyors regarding coverage for:

  • Any negligent act or error that will or could cause damage to the property owner, contractors, and other third parties.
  • Absorption of court costs and legal fees in the case of a claim.
  • Investigations into the accuracy of a client’s claim against the surveyor and their services.
  • Coverage on past design projects even after you have retired.
Surveyors Professional Liability Insurance meeting at a conference table

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4801 Woodway, Suite 300E
Houston, TX 77056

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Contact The Risk Specialty Group Surveyors Professional Liability Insurance

See for yourself the benefit of quoting surveyors professional liability insurance with an independent agent like The Risk Specialty Group. While based in Texas, we go above and beyond to find customized professional liability insurance policies for businesses throughout Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast. Find out more about what we can do for you by contacting a member of our team today.