S
scottiesei
I know there have been a few threads about insurance but I thought that I would start one for my own experience in attempt to help others.
As some of you know I have my own company. Up until a few days ago, my engineering was "sub-contracted". Now that I have my license, no more. I was faced with having to get the company insured, professionally. Here are a few things that I learned.
First, professional liability and errors and omissions insurance are one in the same. In Florida, rates vary from 8%-15% of the company’s gross receipts. Here is what sucks about that, engineering only accounts for %25-30 of my gross. We do quite a bit of drafting and other non-professional functions. Of course the applications suck, they are 12 to 14 pages long. Questions like what are you 5 largest projects, construction costs, design fees, construction time. Some company's wanted the largest 10 and the last 5 as well as the current 5 largest. Who keeps track of that?!? Anyways, 3 agents and two underwriters later, I was able to get a reasonable policy (1mill/2mill 5g deductible) for under $7k/year.
And to personal liability, make sure that the O&E policy covers you, as the engineer. My policy covers my company and me as the design professional. I have heard of policies that are not written that way for whatever reason. I.E: some one could sue the firm, then you. That apparently is only an issue if you work for someone else.
As I said in the topic description, these are my experiences and opinions. I am not a lawyer or insurance agent. This was just such a pain in the *** I figured I'd post what I learned to help others. Good luck!
As some of you know I have my own company. Up until a few days ago, my engineering was "sub-contracted". Now that I have my license, no more. I was faced with having to get the company insured, professionally. Here are a few things that I learned.
First, professional liability and errors and omissions insurance are one in the same. In Florida, rates vary from 8%-15% of the company’s gross receipts. Here is what sucks about that, engineering only accounts for %25-30 of my gross. We do quite a bit of drafting and other non-professional functions. Of course the applications suck, they are 12 to 14 pages long. Questions like what are you 5 largest projects, construction costs, design fees, construction time. Some company's wanted the largest 10 and the last 5 as well as the current 5 largest. Who keeps track of that?!? Anyways, 3 agents and two underwriters later, I was able to get a reasonable policy (1mill/2mill 5g deductible) for under $7k/year.
And to personal liability, make sure that the O&E policy covers you, as the engineer. My policy covers my company and me as the design professional. I have heard of policies that are not written that way for whatever reason. I.E: some one could sue the firm, then you. That apparently is only an issue if you work for someone else.
As I said in the topic description, these are my experiences and opinions. I am not a lawyer or insurance agent. This was just such a pain in the *** I figured I'd post what I learned to help others. Good luck!
