Engineering Liability Insurance

Engineer Insurance describes several insurance policies that are combined to provide comprehensive coverage. Typically, an insurance program for professional engineers will include the following coverages:

• Professional Liability Insurance: Also known as Errors & Omissions Insurance (E&O), Professional Liability Insurance offers coverage for misconduct, negligence, or failure to deliver a service as advertised. If your client feels your professional advice or service didn’t have the expected results, they could sue. Within the engineering space, there are many scenarios where you’ll need professional liability. For example, an engineering error could mean that a computer program doesn’t work as advertised or suppose a new sunblock doesn’t provide adequate protection. Professional Liability Insurance could cover the legal fees and damages, including monetary judgments.

• Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL): Commercial General Liability Insurance is a basic form of coverage that protects against day-to-day risks you may encounter while running your business, such as third-party bodily injury (e.g., slip-and-fall) or property damage. CGL generally covers medical fees and legal expenses, regardless of the lawsuit outcome.

• Cyber Liability Insurance: Cyber Insurance is essential for anyone who stores client information or confidential data. It could cover costs associated with cybercrime involving your technology systems and customer data, such as incident response and breach management fees.

You should also consider the following coverage based on your services:

• Equipment and Tools Insurance: This policy covers loss or damage to the equipment you use to complete your job – whether you own the equipment or it’s in your care. For example, if your toolset was stolen overnight from a job site, Equipment and Tools insurance coverage could cover the cost to replace the stolen tools.

• Pollution Liability Insurance: Pollution liability can be necessary for specific Engineers (i.e Chemical or Industrial). This insurance provides coverage for third-party bodily injury, property damage, and environmental damage due to both gradual and sudden pollution events that occur on a job site. This coverage could cover civil fines or penalties, assessments, emergency response costs, and clean-up costs.