Essential Insurance For Surveyors

In the United Kingdom, when buyers are looking to purchase property, a surveyor should play an important role in the transaction by helping them make informed decisions about these important investments. Both buyers and sellers should be able to depend on a surveyor's advice in order to take the right course of action; a report from a surveyor will let both of them know what potential or real problems are associated with the property under consideration. Surveyors will list minor as well as major defects and inspect the property from top to bottom.

Since clients rely on the services and advice a surveyor offers or fails to offer, as a surveyor it's up to you to protect yourself with the proper insurance should you be blamed for any financial loss your client faces or could potentially face because of the report or advice you gave.

In reality, whether you are an environmental impact surveyor or quantity surveyor, your work has a considerable effect on both businesses and people and having the right insurance to protect you is obviously very important. The Internet is a great resource for surveyors to investigate the various types of insurances they need for adequate protection against any claims that may be filed against them or their business and visiting insurance websites that include surveyors' insurance in their portfolios is an excellent way to weigh your options and see what is available in the way of cover and packages that might help to reduce your premiums and ensure that you are adequately covered.

What sort of cover to go for? Surveyors may need some basic cover including Public Liability Insurance, Employers' Liability Insurance and professional indemnity cover plus there are also optional covers that may be considered.

Public Liability Insurance is important for your surveying business because if you make an error that causes damage to a client's or member of the public's property or if the mistake you make causes an injury to a customer or member of the public, a claim could be filed and Public Liability will likely take care of it. Common accidents include something as simple as a slip or trips over something; If the danger area wasn't adequately marked with a warning sign, and reasonable precautions taken to prevent accidents there the customer or third party could file a claim for compensation which could shake even the strongest finances. Fortunately public liability insurance will likely cover the claim and any legal expenses involved!

As far a the amount of cover you need as a surveyor, the minimum level would be about £1 million, but depending upon your potential liabilities you may need £5 million or £10 million. Typically, many companies expect that a surveyor undertaking commissions from them will have at least £5 million in cover.

When looking over Public Liability cover on the Internet, make sure you examine policies closely to make sure you are covering yourself for the right things and check for exclusions. Don't rely just on the fact that a quote may be cheaper, because a cheaper quote may include lots of exclusions that you need to have covered. Insurance companies are there to make money and one way of doing this is to ensure that payouts are as low as possible and exclusions are a major weapon in their arsenals so the importance of reading policies carefully cannot be over-stressed.

Employers' Liability Insurance

If you have anyone working with you including a full-time, part-time, freelance, contracted or trainee employee, it is mandatory to carry Employers' Liability Insurance. This insurance can often be purchased along with Public Liability and other cover in a package which can significantly reduce the overall cost of your premiums.

With employees there is a chance that one or more could become ill because of their work or be injured whilst at work. Thus, they could be entitled to file a claim against you or your company. That is why Employers' Liability is so important because it will likely cover the cost of the claim and the legal fees involved. For example, if an employee is injured by a piece of equipment that doesn't have the necessary safety precautions, he or she could file a very substantial claim. Another example would be if an employee becomes ill as a result of working for your company, and even if the illness occurs or manifests after this employee leaves your company, a claim could still be filed. Keeping employee records of current and past staff is essential in cases where an employee is trying to prove illness contracted whilst working for you, even though no longer employed by you.

Employers' Liability cover for surveyors is usually standard at £10 million, because employee claims can be extremely costly. Keep in mind that if you fail to purchase Employers' Liability fines can run as high as £2,500 for every day you go without it. A certificate is sent to you proving you have purchased this insurance, and it must be displayed in an area where all employees and inspectors can clearly read it. It must list the number of clerical and manual staff you employ.

To reduce your chances of having an employee file a claim against you, you may be well advised to carry out periodic risk assessments and know the relevant safety and health regulations for surveyors. This will certainly help reduce the risk of injuries and illnesses as well as show that you have made every effort to minimise risks, which could be an important factor in a complex claim.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Surveyors should think about purchasing Professional Indemnity Insurance, because it is an important cover for those who give advice or offer professional services to individuals or businesses. Should you make a mistake or are negligent and a client suffers a financial loss, you will want Professional Indemnity to cover you. For example, as a surveyor, you could make a mistake or overlook a flaw in a certain property, which was discovered after purchase; the customer could lose money on rectifying the mistake, and you could be held liable for the cost. Professional Indemnity cover will likely cover the claim and legal fees involved. The amount of cover is usually a minimum of £50,000 and a maximum of £5 million. Once again, in your Internet research, make sure you look for exclusions on policies before making any purchases, and determine what level of cover is best for you and your business.

As you look over your options, you might want to also investigate optional insurances including Business equipment, Tools cover, Stock cover, Revenue protection and other add-ons that might be beneficial to your surveying business. Insurance websites offer many options for your review and include packages that might contain insurances that you absolutely need as well as some optional cover.

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