Exclusions

How Do Professional Liability Insurance Exclusions Work?

A professional liability insurance policy provides coverage for engineers and architects for any errors, either actual, or alleged, that is a result of the service that was provided. This means that any type of error, whether through omissions, negligence, or misleading statements, the engineer is covered from any action that can be taken against them.

While most of the errors are covered through the use of a professional liability insurance policy, when there are intentional errors, or blatant mistakes, that are done with intent for failure, then the professional is not covered under this type of policy. Insurance seekers should be prepared to ask questions such as what is covered, when does coverage begin and what triggers an exclusion.

Many times an engineer, or an architect, will believe that they do not need to have extra insurance as their employers insurance policy will cover their mistakes. However, this is not the case. The individual is still liable for any mistakes that they made and will have to cover 100% of any damages or claims. Engineers should always look into having their own professional liability coverage in their name when doing any client work.

Professional liability insurance is available in two different types of policies. When choosing their policy, the professional should look into the differences. A claims-made policy works with claims that arise prior to the person taking out the insurance policy. An extended claims policy is one that continues to cover you even after your policy ends, as long as the incident occurred prior to the completion of the policy.

An Errors & Omissions policy for professionals is vitally important to their career. If any mistakes are made during the building, or in the design, of a structure, the damages could be insurmountable (hence, it is important that the right coverage is not listed as an exclusion). Architects and engineers should look for quality professional liability insurance so they can do their work with confidence and without worry off frivolous, or even real, law suits.