Barry Stoll from Carroll County Insurance, a division of BB&T Insurance Services, Inc. gave an informal presentation on insurance concerns for the practicing engineer. Some general points are that you should look for an insurance company that is A- rated or higher and that it should be 'admitted' in your state. Other than these, you need to address what insurance you need as an individual.
For example, most of us think about professional liability, which is also called 'errors and omissions'. Also, some think about product liability. But, few may think about general or physical liability. These are the three that need to be addressed. Most of the time the extent of coverage provided for professional liability will be determined by the nature of your business and previous experience. The thing to do is to go through the application process and find out what's available. One thing to look for here is a policy that is 'occurrance' based. However, few insurance companies offer this and you must accept a 'claims made' policy. This is something to discuss with your agent.
Professional liability covers cases where the damage may not be tangible. However, just as important are cases where the damage may be physical or include bodily injury. If this is due to something you did, then you need general liability. (An extreem case of this might be that you caused a fire on your client's property,) If the damage was due to the use of a product you designed, then need product liability. (An extreem case of this might be the fire caused by the battery charging circuit in your product.) Although the examples provided are clear-cut, in our litigous society it never hurts to periodically review your exposure and "expect the unexpected."
Of course, Barry was not able to tell us just how much insurance our policy should cover. That is something we must each evaluate for ourselves and make our own decision. However, we do not need to do this in a vacuum. Contact your insurance agent and ask for help. Also, whenever there are specific clauses in a new contract that spell out some terms of liability, have your agent review these for you!
More information can be found on the internet at www.BBandT.com/Insurance. Also, Barry can be contacted at bstoll@BBandT.com or at (410)549-3237.
The next meeting will be on February 22nd at the regularly scheduled time. The emphasis of the meeting will be networking and brainstorming for topics of interest to the group.