FAQ on Professional Liability for Architects & Engineers  

These are some of the common questions we receive with regards to Professional Liability for design professionals.

-What is a claims-made policy? – Claims-made policies are most commonly Professional Liability policies.  The policy in place at the time of the claim is the policy that will pay on the claim.  A claims-made policy must be in place at the time of the claim and at the time of the project.  These types of policies are written when there are exposures presenting a ‘long tail’ problem.

-How does an insurance company determine the premium? – The insurance companies determine the premium from the application, resumes, website, and claims history report and claim details.  The premium is not based on one factor but many factors address in the application.  The application includes information such as your firm’s billings, the project types and the services your firm offers.  With this and the additional pieces of information provided the insurance company underwriter determines the premium.

-If my firm does a condo project how will that affect my premium? – This is a very good question and unfortunately the premium cannot be determined until the renewal.  The reason being is the project is one that is either a future project or a project that is soon to be on the books.  The insurance companies do not have a way to determine how your billings and other project types will change in the upcoming year making it difficult to know what the premium will be with the added project type.

-Can I get a policy for just one project? – There are project policies available in the marketplace but they do not cover just one firm, it is for the whole design team.  Additionally, the best protection for a firm is the practice policy; this covers all of the projects your firm will work on.

If you have a question that has not been address here please call or email your Professional Underwriters agent.pexels-photo-164522