Design firms’ work is always under scrutiny; a small error in design can result in massive damages to the project and its owner.
Contracts are growing ever more complex and owners are adept at shifting liability to design firms.
A perceived design flaw can often result in a claim. A contractor might not follow your exact instructions or designs, potentially resulting in a less than exceptional finished structure.
Design firms must also consider the risks they face outside of their professional services, including:
- Hacking, phishing, and their business email being compromised
- Allegations of wrongful workplace practices
- Employee injury
- Auto accidents involving employees
- Employee theft/embezzlement
Even the best-managed firms are at risk and could use guidance and advice from an insurance broker and risk manager.
It’s impossible to control everything that happens, but being insured for the unexpected will prevent your firm from taking a significant financial hit.
We are trusted advisors to our Design Firm Clients
At Guardian Brokers, Ltd, we focus on protecting your firm with risk management and prevention consulting coupled with risk transfer via insurance.
We are built to advise design firms on risk mitigation and insurance coverage.
We spend the time getting to know your business, its risks, and to guide owners and managers in crafting policies and procedures to minimize risk. We then make insurance recommendations for those risks that should be transferred to insurers.
We provide risk management and insurance to many types of design firms, including:
- Architects
- Engineers
- Electrical Engineers
- Mechanical Engineers
- Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Design Professionals
- Landscape Architects
- Civil Engineers
- Geotechnical Engineers
- Structural Engineers
- Traffic Engineers
- Aerial Mappers
- Environmental Consultants
- Environmental Engineers
What Types of Insurance Should Design Firms Consider?
- Professional Liability or E&O or Errors & Omissions
- Protects the firm from losses resulting from a lawsuit, including legal expenses and sums paid (settlements, judgments, etc.)
- Professional liability insurance is sometimes referred to by other names such as E&O insurance, errors and omissions insurance, or professional liability.
- Cyber and Network Security
- This insurance covers a business’s liability & a variety of expenses associated with a data breach including notification costs, and credit monitoring, among other things.
- Covers costs to defend claims by state regulators, fines and penalties, and loss resulting from identity theft.
- In addition to liability, the policies also cover costs like business interruption, data loss/destruction, and (e) cyber extortion.
- Auto Liability
- Covers any injuries or damages to others caused by your vehicles and drivers.
- General Liability
- Protects against bodily injury or property damage to others. Including premises liability.
- Employee Dishonesty/Crime
- Coverage for employee theft and embezzlement.
- Employment Practices Liability
- This liability insurance covers wrongful acts arising from the employment process. The most frequent types of claims covered under such policies include wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
- Drone Coverage
- Drones use is growing among all types of design firms. They’re useful for surveying land, creating models, and examining structures. Coverage is available for damage to the drone as well as liability coverage in the event a drone injures someone or damages their property.
