Insurance

Depends on what kind of work youƒ??re gonna do.

if it includes ALTAs you pretty much need to expect a 2 mil policy, per what most lenders and insurers require.

your premiums, at that point, will largely depend on staff size and projected (for the first year, anyways) billings. Staff of one is best case scenario in that regard.

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ed: staking may require that much too.?ÿ (idk- i avoid that stuff like the plague)?ÿ but 2 mil umbrella/1mil single instance is, as far as i know, a pretty standard jumping off place.?ÿ oh, and my coverage is with hartford.?ÿ beats me, my agent figured it out.?ÿ no complaints, but haven't needed it yet either.

If you are going to be performing "construction staking" in FL you will need at least $2M Professional Liability, Workmans Comp (and you CANNOT exempt yourself), Auto liability $2M, and General Liability $1M. And it's expensive. Professional liability rates are based on your gross annual billings and you can plan on it being 4%-6% of your gross.?ÿ ?????ÿ

@flyin-solo

Gotcha..And in a perfect world I’d only do boundary work all day! Unfortunately I’ll likely have to to take what I can get as I am just starting off..I’ve done a ton of engineering/ construction surveying in the past so I’m sure I’ll end up doing some..Thanks for the input.

Garth,

Congratulations! What does your business plan say about insurance?

I have never had any form of insurance for my solo boundary work.

Been fired for taking the time to do the proper research to ensure what I was doing was along the correct paths instead of putting monuments where the client wanted them to be and have me sign for his decisions or I walked away first.

On the construction end of things, I have had the required insurance that type of job required. It can be turned on just before you start the project and turned off after you have completed your work. Be sure and include that expense in with your price for the job as you would all the other factors that you use to compute your price.

@a-harris

That’s an interesting scenario to be able to turn the insurance on and off depending on the job. I’ll definitely look into that..As far as carrying insurance for boundary work, I’m gonna be targeting title companies as a preferred surveyor. I have a few contacts within the real estate, title company business..I believe they will require a minimum coverage to get jobs. But I admire your sense of self reliance!..I formed an LLC but I’m gonna be forced to carry some sort of general liability, errors and omissions, etc.

Thanks for the input

@jamesf1

I’m not sure I understand your question..I plan on targeting title companies and real estate brokers to begin with and mix in construction staking as needed..My business planner is just me! I’m winging it!

Posted by: @a-harris

On the construction end of things, I have had the required insurance that type of job required. It can be turned on just before you start the project and turned off after you have completed your work.

I've seen it stated on this forum that you need to have E & O insurance coverage when you are sued, not just when you do the job.?ÿ Retirees talk about "tail insurance" to cover them for what they did during their career in case someone discovers a problem later.

I'm not sure about Missouri but you would not get a single construction job without insurance here.?ÿ You would also never get a contract for an ALTA Survey.?ÿ No one wants you stepping a foot on their site, whether it be an operating 7-11 or under construction Walgreens without insurance.?ÿ The policy I carry at the moment provides the following

General Liability: $2M each occurrence/$4M aggregate

Umbrella: don't carry it because my GL is double what everyone usually requires?ÿ

Auto: $1M

Professional Liability: $1M each occurrence/$2M aggregate

Workers Comp: Statutory @ $2M

This policy costs me about $12K annually and has been adequate for every Client save one which was a bank.?ÿ Their requirements made the juice not worth the squeeze to up my limits to their ask, even if they did cover the added costs.?ÿ Your first year the PL premium will be based on your estimated gross billings.?ÿ After that it will be based on your previous year's actual gross billings and some voodoo the insurance company works up regarding your project type mix within that previous year.?ÿ Keep in mind that some construction contracts might obligate you to maintain your insurance limits for a specified number of years following owner acceptance of the project.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ

As an owner, solo operator you might be able to forego the WC insurance but if you ever bring on an employee that isn't an independent contractor and you pay on-book, WC insurance will be a requirement.?ÿ Find a broker that specializes in the Professional Service industry.?ÿ They'll be able to walk you through everything and they usually have programs to help with risk mitigation and contract language.?ÿ Ours puts on quarterly seminars that if attended by everyone capable of signing a contract, provide credits to decrease our next renewal premium.?ÿ They also helped us draft our standard contract language and in cases where we have to sign the Client's contract, they'll do a review of the language and provide recommendations for edits to help protect us.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ

Good luck on your journey!

@cameron-watson-pls

Very informative.

Thanks

@flga

Workers compensation requirements for owners vary by state.  In Oregon the owners are not covered unless they specifically request to be.

Contrary to what some have posted about not carrying insurance.?ÿ Unless you are planning to work solely of private land owners whom are not accustom to working with professional service providers, your clients will require you to carry at a minimum liability insurance of some form or another. The more enlightened clients will request that you indemnify them as well.?ÿ Remember that liability, including auto, protects the public while E&O protects your firm.?ÿ If Johnny Q Public stubs her toe on project you're on you can be tied up in a law suit no matter how far from liability you were.

@john-putnam

You are right about that, I was in a seminar one time and the instructor told us that someone got hurt on the job and the judge assessed the hot dog vendor on the street $60,000 because he profited from the workers on the construction site.  He also told about a survey firm that was to stake curb and gutter six months later that got hit also. 

I'm in California?ÿ and I've tried?ÿ to get professional liability ins. - tail coverage

I was told it was not available

I was quoted 10k per month for current professional liability insurance (I passed)

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Has anyone in Calif?ÿ been able to purchase tail coverage?ÿ ?

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@bill93

"I've seen it stated on this forum that you need to have E & O insurance coverage when you are sued, not just when you do the job"

Especially in construction work.

I've been approached about "Tail" insurance. The policy is $60K for five years. The Firm I just sold has staked out over 22,000 houses in the last 31 years that I ran it. There were 20 or 30 mistakes during construction that cost an approximately $90K-120K to fix. Most of the errors were in house staking or finished floor elevation screw ups. (even after checking into two benches) All were paid from the Company because they fell below my deductible. Never any boundary issues I guess because we staked all the lots in each subdivision we contracted.

Taking that into consideration would you pay the $60K for five years of coverage? $5k deductible.

Another wrench in the considerations is that in FL you are basically liable for your survey until you croak the bucket, and even then your heirs may be liable if they receive any monetary considerations from your estate. It's a catch 22 situation. The ONLY personal asset you are protected from is your Homestead. Checking, savings, bonds, and any and all investments are subject to litigious rape.

I neglected to mention that the Statute limit is 2 years subsequent discovery. And with real estate prices at an all time high in Central FL you can expect notification 15 minutes after someone discovers a blunder which may effect their pocketbook. Count on it.