Presentation for Architecture Students at University of Colorado Denver

Our very own Cindy King was honored to be invited to present insurance topics for Architects at the University of Colorado Denver this week.  The topics included in the presentation were as follows:

Professional Liability – what is the policy providing coverage for, description of claims made policy and retroactive date, limits of liability available, project endorsements, deductibles and deductible types, and risk management offered by the insurance companies.  Additionally, what is involved in determining a premium for a new or renewing design firm on a policy?  Items such as discipline, project types, billings, contracts and claims help to determine the policy premium.  There was also discussion about claims trends in the marketplace such as fee disputes, accessibility issues and high tech materials.

Business Owner policy – we discussed the limits available on general liability, hired and non-owned liability added to the policy and what does business personal property include.  In addition, the presentation included umbrella/excess policy information.  What limits and deductibles are common for design firms.

Workers Compensation – what would a design firm need for a workers compensation policy, what is required by law and how is the premium determined on a policy.  We also discussed the monopolistic workers compensation states.

Cyber liability – what is the policy and what is it used for?  Also, what is included in a cyber liability policy, breach response costs, notification costs, business interruption, cyber extortion and data restoration costs?

Employment practice liability – how does this differ from workers compensation, what types of suits does this provide coverage for (workplace harassment, libel, etc.) and limits of liability available.

The students had some great questions and learned about how insurance is a part of practicing design firms.  For any additional questions please call or email our office.