Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 09:22AM Design Professional Liability Insurance Bargains
Just be careful when you switch.
As a business owner it is important to review your expenses annually. Your professional liability insurance is no exception and something that we do for each of our insured’s every year. With the downturn in the design and construction industry, we know that most firms would love some relief with this high cost expense and we show firms everyday that there are great savings opportunities in today’s professional liability insurance market.
For the past several years, the pricing in this insurance product has been decreasing significantly. Pricing may be at its lowest rate ever and is only now starting to inch back upwards due to increased claims activity. That said, it is still very much a buyer's market and having a look around could save you a bundle, but be mindful.
In every one of these policies there is exclusionary language that would exclude coverage for claims or circumstances that you had previous knowledge of. This exclusion can apply to the policy you're renewing with your current insurance company, or coverage placed with a different insurance company.
Prior to your annual policy renewal, you must do your do diligence. Send emails to your department heads, design professionals and project managers asking if there are issues they are aware of that they might reasonably anticipate a claim as a result of your professional services. This annual exercise will likely keep you out of trouble later.
Cast a wide net and encourage discussion of any issue that comes to mind. From that discussion, make a list. This list should include not only professional service issues, but also issues such as bodily injury and pollution events for example. Our experience shows time and again that these can and do come back to bite you. Review this list with your insurance broker, document your insurance file and submit those circumstances that cause you concern to your insurance carrier.
This is a great annual exercise and a very prudent business practice and no, it probably won’t cause your premium to increase, but could save you a bundle.
Ken McComb
Reader Comments (2)
That said, it is still very much a buyer's market and having a look around could save you a bundle, but be mindful.
As I read this article, i just realize that we have to review our annual liability insurance indeed.