Insurance

I'm glad you asked this, after Jan. 1st I'm going to be in the market for E&O and General Liability, and I was wondering, too, what to expect. Don't mean to Hi-Jack, but are you getting back into the surveying?

In our case E & O is based on $ of billing during the past year. I suspect that is the case everywhere. We have $1M per incident with a $2M limit. We pay about $3500 per year, payable in advance at the beginning of the year. The premium changes (increases) every year. You also have to fill out a rather lengthy form listing the kinds of work you do and the $ amount total per year for each kind.

We have a general liability policy that has the same amounts of coverage for about the same amount of money.

We have never filed a claim under either policy.

NSPS is a good source for Surveying E&O (Liability) Insurance. The information you send to them is fairly simple and they sent me back three quotes from companies that know what a surveyor is and does. Did not get put in with those engineers.There is info on their web site.
I will email the quote to you.

I am a small one man (most of the time) company that does mostly boundaries and very little construction staking.

Per Claim/Aggregate
Limit of Liability
ANNUAL
PREMIUM w/
$2,500 per claim
Deductible
$1,000,000 / $1,000,000 $1,500
$1,000,000 / $2,000,000 $1,625

Scott

...oh yes I forgot $2500 deductible per claim.

A lot of construction stakeout and any design will get you a higher premium.

E&O, $1M/$2M on $200k gross, $1k deductible: $2,883.00 (CA; March, 2012).

General liability ($1M/$2M) with surveyor's instrument coverage, don't recall the deductible: $530.00 (December, 2011)

Don't forget Inland Marine coverage for your equipment!

Jeff

> I know that it may vary from state to state, but I'm just fishing for some ballpark ideas regarding E&O coverage and rates. Obviously, I'm a bit more interested in the going Oregon rates, but other states might also prove useful, so thank you in advance for any responses. 🙂
>
> If you don't mind, how much coverage do you have and how much does it cost?
>
> Any input regarding other kinds of insurance (business, survey rig, etc.) would also be greatly appreciated.
>
> 🙂

With all due respect man, it sounds like you are making the same mistake as many survey clients. I suggest you do not shop for insurance. Instead you should shop for a very good professional agent. A good agent will help you just like we surveyors help our clients. You need to understand the various options and ask the right questions. The problem is unless you are an expert you don't always know the right questions to ask.

While it is probably true that most insurance agents can hunt around and get you some sort of policy, it is not true that they understand the nuances of Professional Liability. There are only a hand full of people around the country that truly know and understand exactly what surveyors need.

I would start by asking the Oregon Society to give you a recommendation from their sustaining members. We know bad things can happen when our clients search for the cheapest surveyor. I contend the same is true when shopping for insurance. In fact, it is much worse because your ultimate cost will be determined by the Carrier. This means a great agent will cost you pretty much the same as a hack that knows nothing about surveying or Professional Liability insurance.

Larry P

I agree with Larry. We got ours through NSPS.

> are you getting back into the surveying?

I do miss it from time to time and I do actually look at potential projects occasionally, but the short answer is "no".