Staff Engineer / Architect Insurance – Cost and Coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, staff engineer / architect insurance must be included in the list because you can’t always know exactly what could happen in the future.

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

Like any business owner, for your staff engineer / architect enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

Business Insurance for staff engineer / architect

If your staff engineer / architect business runs without proper insurance, you are taking an enormous chance not just of losing some money but of a total wipe-out.

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

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to highlight 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 staff engineer / architect business?

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

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

In some states, like Montana, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount an adjudicator 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 plaintiff more than they have sued for.

When you are running your staff engineer / architect operations, you can’t deny responsibility for the outcomes of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent beforehand the money necessary to have your business running as a limited liability company, all of that liability belongs to you as a person.

What does staff engineer / architect insurance protect you from?

For your staff engineer / architect business, the most important sorts of insurance are meant to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

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

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

The main categories of insurance for your staff engineer / architect businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any staff engineer / architect business is dealing directly with other people, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your staff engineer / architect business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your staff engineer / architect 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 demand proper liability insurance.

The normal level of general liability insurance for your staff engineer / architect business would be with a cap of $1 million for a single event 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 staff engineer / architect insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your staff engineer / architect business

In the event where a buyer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your staff engineer / architect business for them, you can quickly have to fight a court case.

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

Every small staff engineer / architect 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 staff engineer / architect insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your staff engineer / architect 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 the results didn’t meet your description of function, or that your guidance was basically incorrect.

You need to know the particular laws of product liability in your own state.

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

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for staff engineer / architect

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you should get.

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

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your staff engineer / architect business

Take care! – 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 proper 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 truck policies cover the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

In addition, in case of any accident, the car itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is covered if your truck is involved in a collision.

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

The required value of the insurance depends on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your staff engineer / architect business needs unique and costly equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

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

In addition, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can destroy 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 staff engineer / architect business running.

It is hard to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your staff engineer / architect business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any staff engineer / architect business that owns or rents space in a building should have 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.

Every physical building location should carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your staff engineer / architect business deals in areas of high risk, like Texas or South Carolina, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Rhode Island, where extreme cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of staff engineer / architect business premises, there is a need for more supplementary cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends completely 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 staff engineer / architect insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your staff engineer / architect business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your staff engineer / architect business

Is your staff engineer / architect business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes good sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for staff engineer / architect – 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 less premiums but still having identical risk cover.

The important 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 raised.

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

Business Owners Policy BOP for your staff engineer / architect business

You have the chance 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 merges commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

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

It is often the right choice for small and medium-sized staff engineer / architect businesses, such as yours.

There are some limits that will determine whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs do not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle risks.

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

The typical business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual revenue.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your staff engineer / architect business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your staff engineer / architect business has one or more employees.

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

The benefits include 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 obliged 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 charges are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every staff engineer / architect insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give approximate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

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

The list below is of annual premiums we have researched for the main types of insurance your staff engineer / architect businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Product liability insurance $255 – $755
Commercial insurance $1120 – $2500
Public liability insurance $330 – $525
General liability insurance $570 – $1220
Commercial vehicle insurance $1795 – $2840
Equipment insurance $340 – $1145

Cost of insurance for your staff engineer / architect operations depends on many different factors.

We have reckoned these figures for small self-employed staff engineer / architect businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your staff engineer / architect business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

Also 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 city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for staff engineer / architect operations?

This is a general term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect staff engineer / architect business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my staff engineer / architect business have to have insurance?

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

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

What does a small staff engineer / architect business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides protection against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party 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 staff engineer / architect insurance.

How much will staff engineer / architect business insurance cost?

On top of 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.

You can search for more information insurance for staff engineer / architect, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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