As an architect, you may have dismissed the importance of professional liability insurance in the interest of saving money. However, it's important that you understand why professional liability coverage is such an important part of your business. Here's a look at some of the things that you need to know about professional liability insurance to understand how beneficial it could be for you.
Common Reasons Why You May Need Professional Liability Insurance
There are a number of situations where you might find that you need to have professional liability insurance. Understanding the most common reasons why you might need it is a start toward ensuring that you have the coverage your business needs.
For example, you may find that you need to fall back on your professional liability insurance in the case of personal errors, oversights, failure to do the proper thing to resolve a situation, not building within the building codes and regulations, or not obtaining professional support when you need it to complete the job properly.
How Professional Liability Insurance Can Help
Professional liability insurance is highly beneficial for architects in many ways. First, since your building designs and blueprints are all custom creations, professional liability insurance protects you in the event of a measurement or calculation error that causes injury or structural failure. It also protects against claims of negligence due to gross oversights in your design and development.
Additionally, you will receive coverage for any punitive damages as a result of violations of state or local laws and ordinances. If you miss a local regulation and design a structure that isn't completely compliant, your professional liability insurance can help to protect you financially.
Your professional liability policy will also extend coverage for issues related to pollution, asbestos exposure, and physical injuries on the job site, even when you are embarking on a partnership build with another contractor.
What Professional Liability Won't Cover
As important as it is to know how professional liability insurance can help you, it's also important to know what it can't do for you. For example, professional liability insurance won't provide coverage for anything that was done intentionally. If you deliberately ignored an aspect of building code or a safety threat, your insurance policy won't be likely to cover the issue.
Your professional liability insurance also won't protect you against any liability that you've assumed by way of signing a contract that binds you. Your policy can't override contractual obligations.
Talk with an insurance provider near you today for more information.
