subject: The Basics Of E&O Insurance [print this page] The Basics Of E&O Insurance
Running a business typically entails costs of many kinds in order to operate successfully. Owners have to purchase or rent retail or office space, pay for utilities and electricity as well as pay costs associated with their product or service. One of the most basic and essential costs is E&O insurance. This is coverage for specific types of business owners or professionals and helps insulate them from legal action on the part of their customers.
E&O insurance is a type of business insurance that can pay for legal costs, awarded damages and other costs associated with a lawsuit.
It is a broad type of liability coverage that protects professionals and businesses from potentially enormous costs resulting from negligence whether it was the businesses fault or not. This type of coverage does not come into play until a business is being sued. Professionals that are either required by law to carry this form of coverage or that purchase it anyway are typically those in service-based industries involving information. Realtors, brokers, insurance agents, loan officers and other similar professionals are the ones who use this type of coverage.
It is easy to see why some professions would need insurance coverage that pays out in the event of damages. For example if a worker at a lawn care company accidentally plows through a customer's fence while cutting the grass, liability insurance would pay to repair it. For individuals in the information services industry however, it is not so easy to see how damages can result from contracts, though they often do. For instance, a person following the advice of a professional such as a Realtor may encounter huge monetary damages if the information they were given was not correct. In the event his customer sues the brokerage, E&O insurance would help pay for litigation costs, damage awards and other costs associated with the situation. Without this type of coverage, businesses would go bankrupt trying to pay for these things.
Other than the type of professionals that purchase this type of coverage, it is relatively similar to other types of consumer and commercial insurance. There are claims processes, deductibles, monthly or annual premiums and agents in the field that can help design a policy around a particular business owner's needs.
One might think that this type of coverage is only for business professionals that are not good at their jobs or are dishonest in some ways. The reality is that even the best and most honest professionals end up being sued. It is incredibly easy for individuals to file a lawsuit against a company for negligence and many times, it does not matter whether the business was at fault or not, they may still end up in court spending thousands of dollars trying to defend themselves.
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