Lawyer insurance – what kind and at what cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Lawyer insurance must be high on the list because you can’t always know exactly what could happen in the future.

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With the protection provided by insurance against accidents and all the other types of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unforeseen happens.

Like any business owner, for your Lawyer enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

Business Insurance for Lawyer

If your Lawyer business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a complete wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the results of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to explain what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where available, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Lawyer business?

What this means, for any Lawyer business owner, is that if some company claims that your business caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Lawyer business is not harbored by laws in the same way as states are, where legislation can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like New Jersey, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a court can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the privilege of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a claimant more than they have sued for.

When you are running your Lawyer operations, you can’t deny responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent in advance the money necessary to have your business running as an LLC, all of that liability belongs to you alone.

What does Lawyer insurance protect you from?

For your Lawyer business, the most important kinds of insurance are meant to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some official kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any Lawyer business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main categories of insurance for your Lawyer businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Lawyer business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them personally or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Lawyer business protects you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

It protects your Lawyer business from the claims themselves and also to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it can also help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts insist on proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your Lawyer business would be with a boundary of $1 million for a single claim and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your Lawyer insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Lawyer business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Lawyer business for them, you can quickly be involved in a law suit.

Even if the case against you is ruled in your favor, the cost of defense can be substantial, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Almost all small Lawyer business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a once-off claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Lawyer insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Lawyer operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that customers may claim that what they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice was basically incorrect.

You need to understand the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for results caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Lawyer

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you need.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for help.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Lawyer business

Be careful! – most policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any happening like theft or accidental damage when the car is being used for business purposes.

The best way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a designated commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial car policies guarantee the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

Also, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is guaranteed if your truck is involved in a crash.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, mandate this type of insurance.

The wanted value of the insurance is worked-out for the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your requested level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Lawyer business needs specific and costly equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The equipment may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unforeseen acts.

As well, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can eliminate your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specific gear quickly out of your own pocket, you need full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your Lawyer business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your Lawyer business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Lawyer business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the space, you may already have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Your physical building location needs to carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against unexpected occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Lawyer business deals in areas of high risk, like California or North Carolina, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where intense cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Lawyer business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Although the level of cover depends entirely on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of Lawyer insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Lawyer business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Lawyer business

Is your Lawyer business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Lawyer – are special policies where you can cover a specific period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having lower premiums but still having identical risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you purchase the cover for a defined period – a designated date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of higher business activity, get the existing cover improved.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Lawyer business

You have the choice to combine most of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP combines commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will cover you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized Lawyer businesses, such as yours.

There are two limits that will dictate whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle policies.

Also, the size of your business will rule whether you are eligible to take out BOP cover.

The normal business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual revenue.

Plus, you must separately take out the necessary worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Lawyer business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Lawyer business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the business against any costs that arise if a worker experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits cover medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s requirements in this regard can leave you as the employer having to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only permit coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you can’t obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation premiums are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must see the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Lawyer insurance requirement is unique, there are enough examples of usual quotes from insurance companies for us to give appropriate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an agent what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have collected for the main types of insurance your Lawyer businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Commercial vehicle insurance $1630 – $2545
Product liability insurance $305 – $555
General liability insurance $700 – $880
Public liability insurance $375 – $580
Commercial insurance $815 – $2465
Equipment insurance $300 – $1315

Cost of insurance for your Lawyer operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small independent Lawyer businesses.

In larger states like New York, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, but in smaller states like New Mexico, they can be about 20%-30% lower.

The location and size and type of your Lawyer business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your town.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Lawyer operations?

This is a wide term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect Lawyer business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Lawyer business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds of insurance are not mandatory for you to run your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Several other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Lawyer business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a customer for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The specific cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the best policies for Lawyer insurance.

How much will Lawyer business insurance cost?

As well as the size of the business, several other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

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