Professional Liability vs. General Liability for Architects and Engineers

For design professionals each of these policies are important and provide different coverages for your firm.

Coverage

The Professional Liability policy is for design errors and omissions. In the event your firm has a claim filed against your firm for design negligence the Professional Liability will provide the coverage. General Liability policy is for negligence outside of your firms design work. This policy is often called the trips and falls type of coverage. The general liability policy will not provide coverage for a design error but other negligence. This does not include injuries to employees, which will be covered under a workers compensation policy.

Premium

Professional Liability policies will have a higher premium compared to the General Liability policy because the errors and omission for a design professional is a higher risk than other types of negligence.

Limits of Liability

Professional Liability insurance companies offer a wide range of limits, from $100,000 per claim to $5,000,000 per claim. While General Liability policies typically offer either $1,000,000 per occurrence or $2,000,000 per occurrence. With general liability there may be the option to obtain an umbrella/excess policy in case there is a need for higher limits. Professional Liability does not have an umbrella/excess policy available.

Deductible

Professional Liability, depending on the size of your firm, will offer deductibles from $0 to $50,000. The deductibles available will also depend on the insurance company. General Liability policies for architects and engineers do not typically have a deductible.

Professional Liability is a commonplace type of coverage for architects and engineers. General Liability is not quite as common but an important coverage for design firms. If you have questions please call or email your Professional Underwriter agent.

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