Engineering is a profitable profession with a lot of opportunities but also a lot of responsibilities. And every responsible engineer will get an insurance policy for their business. In this article, we’ll explore the six types of insurance that every engineering business needs.
If you don’t have insurance that covers your work and the equipment you use. So, you will never be able to gain your clients’ trust. Will lose out on a lot of potential profit. Not to mention that if you make a mistake or break a piece of equipment. As a result, you’re going to have to pay for it from your pocket.
To have peace of mind and great protection, you can get engineering insurance in a few simple steps, and this insurance will protect you from different risks. Let’s take a look at the different types of insurance for engineers and why you need them.
Professional liability insurance
No matter if you work in an engineering company or are self-employed as an independent engineer. So, one of the most important types of insurance you need is professional liability insurance. You might also know it as the errors and omissions insurance, or simply E&O insurance.
The goal of professional liability insurance is to protect businesses that need to deal with the financial responsibility of a lawsuit. That occurs after a mistake, also known as a liability lawsuit.
Engineering businesses often work on high-stakes projects in a landscape where there are a lot of errors. Delays, and unexpected costs, so liability lawsuits from clients are fairly common. These lawsuits don’t reflect your level of professionalism, because mistakes are bound to happen.
Your E&O insurance will also cover damages and injuries that occur due to faulty design. But keep in mind that your insurance company will only provide a cover due to professional negligence. This type of insurance doesn’t cover the costs of criminal prosecution.
Companies nowadays use technology to improve their performance, but the downside of this is the rise of cybercrime. Getting hacked can be disastrous to any niche business as $2.9 million is lost to cybercrime every minute.
If you have a breach of data, you will probably face lawsuits, lose a lot of income due to downtime. So, it will be really hard to restore your reputation. Of course, you need to do all you can to make sure your cybersecurity is as good as it can be.
But in case of an attack or a breach. You need to be prepared for the worst with cyber liability insurance that will cover all the costs related to a cyber-attack.
General liability insurance doe engineering business types
Some types of engineering professions work on sites that are close to the general public. This applies mostly to civil engineers who work on construction projects. However, even with other types of engineering work. Clients, suppliers, and potential partners often have a habit of visiting the site.
It’s not uncommon at all for third parties to sustain injuries due to an engineer’s mistake. When that happens, the business becomes financially and legally responsible for the injury. This is why general liability insurance exists.
As the name suggests, this type of insurance protects you from liabilities. So, incidents involving third-party individuals that may result in a lawsuit, including the following scenarios:
- Accidental injuries that resulted when someone was at or near your place of business
- Product damage that occurs when a product you sell or make causes an injury to a client
- Property damage that was caused by one of your employees while working on a project
- Reputation liability that occurred due to libel or slander and caused your business harm
Worker’s compensation insurance doe engineering business
Engineering can be a very dangerous profession. Most engineering professionals need to operate and use heavy machinery. Powerful equipment while working in hazardous environments in all weather conditions.
No matter how much you try to avoid workplace injuries. You will have at least one employee, but probably more, who will sustain an injury while working. This can be a small injury, but engineers can also become disabled or even die while working.
If someone you employ gets injures or dies on the worksite. You will be liable for their treatment costs, and that’s why your business needs worker’s compensation insurance.
This type of insurance will cover any ongoing medical costs and lost wages during recovery for all injured employees. In case of disability, the employee will receive disability benefits from your insurance company, and in the case of death, it will cover funeral expenses as well as some death benefits.
Property insurance doe engineering business types
Even though your employees are out on the field every day, your business still needs to have a physical office. In there, you probably keep all kinds of possessions such as important documents, valuable tools, and expensive equipment.
All of these possessions have a certain value to them and their loss or damage can be disastrous for your business. That is why you need property insurance. You probably already have property insurance for your home, so why shouldn’t you have it for your place of business as well?
Property insurance provides businesses with coverage if something inside your physical office or workplace gets lost. This also applies to the property itself, and there are a few instances in which property insurance will kick in.
Your policy will protect you from vandalism and robbery and will cover all the valuable assets that were in damage or stolen. You will also have protection from damages caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes, fires, floods, and earthquakes.
If you have a good insurance policy, you will receive enough money to repair damaged property or purchase new items if necessary. You will also receive monetary assistance that will cover all the income you lost while your business was in its downtime due to the property damage or loss using top insurance for engineering professionals types.
Commercial vehicle insurance
As an engineer, you probably travel very often to various project sites and if your engineers travel to these sites using a company vehicle, you need to have commercial vehicle insurance. This type of insurance provides you with compensation if one of your vehicles gets into an accident and causes any damages or injuries.
Your insurance will cover any medical, replacement, and repair costs that your vehicle causes, as well as the replacement or repair of the vehicle in case it’s damaged or maliciously vandalized.
Final thoughts
Some engineers think that they’re so good at their job that they don’t need insurance, but this is a very outdated way of looking at engineering business insurance. Incidents happen all the time, and trouble can come from multiple places, whether it’s from a third party or within your organization.
Don’t take any risks and get insurance, you will be thankful for that decision next time something goes wrong.
