Architect’s Insurance
(Professional Liability Insurance)
Types of Architect’s Insurance
FAQ
Add-Ons and Bundles
Architect’s Insurance Covers Multiple Types of Architects:
- Commercial architects
- Residential architects
- Sustainability architects
- Industrial architects
- Conservation architects
- Textile designers
- Urban designers
- Interior architects
- Extreme architects
- Developer architects
- Lighting architects
- Political architects
- Industrial designers
- Furniture designers
- Restoration architects
- Research architects
- Municipal architects
- Housing architect
The Benefits of Architect’s Insurance
Aside from coverage, there’s a lot to consider when you’re thinking about buying architect’s insurance.
Here are some of the benefits or perks of buying this type of insurance:
- It’s cost-effective in the long run.
Surely the thought of this is counterintuitive. After all, isn’t insurance expensive? The answer to this is yes, it can be.
But, claims can be even more expensive. That is to say, it’s better to pay the upfront costs of insurance than regret it later down the road when you’re dealing with claims adding up to $50,000.
In short, it’s always best to take a proactive approach, especially when it comes to insurance.
2. It will keep your businesses’ reputation intact, and keep your business running.
This may seem dramatic, but it’s true. Not only will professional liability insurance be able to maintain your businesses’ reputation, but it’ll also make sure your business doesn’t crash.
As you probably are already aware, claims are costly. If you receive more claims than your business is able to handle, then a.) you won’t be gaining customers, and b.) your business model likely won’t be able to handle the claim charges.
3. Contracts frequently require professional liability.
A lot of times contracts made with clients will require professional liability insurance. Also, most states require you to have professional liability insurance as an architect.
4. It can help you and your employees.
Purchasing architect’s insurance can help protect you and your employees from charges filed against you.
Things to Consider Before Purchasing Architect’s PI Insurance
What does my Architecture insurance company cover?
Before making any type of insurance purchase, double-check with your employer to make sure that your company doesn’t already cover the policy.
Obviously, if your company already protects you then you don’t want to accidentally purchase something additional that you don’t need.
But most importantly, you want to make sure that your company protects you as an individual employee. In many scenarios, the company buys policy for the entire organization, but that policy doesn’t necessarily cover you as a specific employee.
If you aren’t fully protected, or as protected as you’d like to be, then purchasing professional indemnity insurance may be in your best interest.
What if I own my own firm?
If you own a firm then you may want to look into other policies that protect you and your employees.
Also, owning a firm can have an impact on your insurance quote. So, be sure to click “Customize Quote” below to see what you’d pay.
What type of architecture do I specialize in, and what is covered by my insurance company?
Are you designing large corporate buildings, a family home, or both? The types of projects that you’re taking on have a degree of risk associated with each. If you’re designing large corporate buildings you’ll definitely want to purchase insurance that matches that particular level of risk. Especially since claims for projects like corporate buildings will be high.
We Care Insurance can do this heavy-lifting for you. If you scroll down and hit “Customize Quote” we’ll give you a quotation of what you’ll be paying based on these factors and more.
Also, if you’re ever uncertain, please reach out to support@wecare-insurance.com or (402) 957-2123 for help.
Get a free quote to see how much you’d pay
There are a range of factors that may influence your quotation. For example, your area of practice, the number of employees at your business, and your salary can all have an impact on your insurance quote.
Above all, it is our goal to give you a fair and accurate estimate. Below, we’ve provided a place where you can input this information.
So, if you’re interested in customizing your quote to see what your rate would look like, click on “Customize Quote” below.
Other Types of Insurance for Architect Business Owners
Even professional liability won’t cover certain work mishaps. If you are an architect that owns a business, you may want to check out some of these policies. Especially if you want to make sure you are additionally protected.
Worker's Compensation Insurance
Firstly, the price of this policy depends on the number of workers in your business and the occupational risk. This means it can range anywhere between $800-$1200 per year. More importantly, however, is that it covers medical bills from job-related injuries and wage replacements for recovery time.
Employer's Liability Insurance
Also known as EPLI, this policy allows additional coverage for one’s employees. It covers claims filed that involve employment, hiring, and HR practices.
Commercial Property Insurance
This policy is helpful if you pay rent on a facility or own a facility. More importantly, you’ll be covered if there is a fire or explosion, theft, or vandalism. Also, for this type of insurance, you should expect to pay $500-900 a year. But, take note that this pay range will be dependent on your building’s property value.
Bundles
Many insurance plans are commonly bundled together for simplicity and a cheaper rate.
Business owner’s policy (BOP)
A popular option for small businesses like clothing boutiques that combines Commercial General Liability insurance with Commercial Property insurance, usually at a cheaper price than if the two were purchased separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is professional liability/professional indemnity insurance and how does it protect me?
Professional liability, also known as professional indemnity insurance, is an insurance plan that will protect you when you work.
So, what does this mean? If you purchase this plan it means you’ll be covered for certain claims filed against you. These include:
- failing to do your job or execute a task
- any errors you make while performing tasks
- misrepresentation
- inaccurate advice
But, it does not cover certain policies that fall under other claims. Here are a few examples:
- injuries that employees sustain while on the job
- vandalism and break-ins to a property or facility
- data breaches
- licenses or permits required by state or government officials (for more information, scroll under “Commercial” and click on “Bond”).
Keep in mind, these are only a few examples. You’ll need to buy a separate policy in order to receive these benefits.
As always, if you have any questions, please contact support@wecare-insurance.com or call (402) 957-2123.
Is it necessary for me to purchase architect's professional liability insurance?
Absolutely, yes! Similar to other jobs, architecture involves varying degrees of risk. Thus, in order to protect yourself against lawsuits, you’ll need insurance.
Professional liability, for instance, covers errors and omissions otherwise known as E&O. Basically, what this means is that you’ll be protected when you make a mistake and someone decides to file a claim against you.
Even if you don’t make a mistake someone can easily file a claim against you. Unfortunately, it’s unfair, but it happens. Thankfully, professional liability insurance can protect you from that as well.
So, this is why it’s important to have professional liability or indemnity insurance (these two terms are interchangeable).
Am I required to have professional indemnity insurance?
Do I still need to buy insurance if my company provides it?
Great question! So, this depends on what your company covers. Sometimes, your company can only cover certain aspects of insurance with their plans. Specifically, if they don’t cover allegations involving negligence, misrepresentation, and false information then you may want to look into professional indemnity insurance to make sure that you’re covered.
More importantly, be sure to ask your employer what your company covers before purchasing professional liability insurance.
Will the size of my firm impact how much I'll pay for my insurance?
Yes, the size of your firm will have an impact on what you pay.
Why? Because, if you are a bigger firm you are more likely to receive more claims than a smaller firm. Of course, this has nothing to do with the quality of your work. Rather, it’s because you have more clients than a smaller firm.
Thus, the more clients you have means that you’ll have a higher likelihood of receiving more claims.
Basically, this is why the size of your firm matters to insurance.
Can I receive coverage?
We Care Insurance offers architect’s insurance to various professionals like yourself. Every professional that is listed in the section above is covered by We Care Insurance.
However, it’s important to note that We Care Insurance does not cover landscape architects.
Still, if your job isn’t listed in the sections above, and you don’t know if you will be able to receive coverage, please contact support@wecare-insurance.com or (402) 957-2123. We’re always happy to answer any questions you may have.
Do we insure people with many claims?
Yes! We have select carriers for people who have many claims or a bad record.
How much will it cost me?
So, this depends on a number of things like your salary, how many years you’ve had your business, and the number of employees working there.
As you can imagine, these factors play a significant role in the cost of your insurance. Why? To help you understand we’ll use a hypothetical example:
So, let’s say you’ve just started an architectural firm and you want an insurance quote. When you get quoted, you may be paying a lesser amount in comparison to a firm that’s been in business for a while. Put simply, the reason insurance charges you less is because it assumes that since your firm has just started you’ll have less clients. Less clients means less claims, which ultimately means less liability.
What’s important to note here is that this is an example of only one factor at play. Your insurance quote hinges on several factors.
We’re committed to giving you a fair, accurate, and personalized quote. So, if you’d like to see how much it will cost, be sure to click “Customize Quote” below.
What payment methods do we accept?
We accept payments through a mortgage, direct billing through mail, EFT (Bank Account), debit and credit cards.
How can I file a claim?
We strongly recommend calling us before the insurance carrier directly about a claim. You may not want to file a claim depending on your insurance plan. However, we will assist you in filling a claim to make sure you take the least amount of damage possible to your insurance score.
After talking with us, you can call the insurance carrier or let us call them for you.
If you can’t find your answer here, please don’t hesitate to ask a representative through our messaging system or email.