Insurance 101
What happens to my insurance policy when I sell my business? And other coverage questions relating to ownership changes
Could or have one of the following scenarios happened to you? The owner of the home inspection company that you work for dies unexpectedly. When he retires, the owner sells his home inspection business to you, his employee. To get into the business, you buy the name of a prominent home inspection company in your…
Read MoreAdmitted vs Non-Admitted Home Inspection Insurance: What’s the difference?
When shopping home inspection insurance, you have a lot of factors to consider. Are the insurer’s policies claims-made or occurrence? What exclusions and endorsements does the policy include? And does the provider offer any perks like pre-claims assistance or a diminishing deductible? (You can read more on the key characteristics to consider when shopping insurance…
Read MorePre-Claims Assistance: How your insurance can help you avoid a claim
Six months after an inspection, the client calls. During some remodeling, they found issues in the home that they think your inspection should have caught. They haven’t asked for you to pay for any repairs, but they sound upset and they’re looking to you for answers. How can you respond? You want to keep a…
Read MoreHow to improve your marketability with referring party indemnification
During a recent home inspection, you missed the polybutylene pipes in the attic. When your clients, the home buyers, discovered your error, they were furious. They didn’t just sue you; they sued everyone involved in the home’s sale. That included the real estate agent that referred the job to you. What is referring party indemnification?…
Read More3 most common insurance policy pitfalls
Did you know that not all insurance policies are created equal? Or that policies can exclude some business practices? If you don’t know the ins and outs of your policy, you could end up buying less coverage than you need. In this article, we go over three of the most common insurance policy pitfalls plaguing…
Read MoreHow to protect your tools and equipment
Earlier this year, one of our insured home inspectors sent his radon monitor in for calibration. When the servicing was complete, the manufacturer shipped the monitor back to the home inspector. But, when the inspector returned home, the radon monitor was nowhere to be found. The inspector put in a claim with the radon monitor…
Read MoreWorkers’ Comp for Home Inspectors: Everything you need to know
Several months ago, we were reviewing a home inspector’s workers’ compensation policy. Unbeknownst to that home inspector, their insurance carrier wasn’t familiar with the property inspection industry. Despite their lack of experience in the inspection space, the carrier didn’t want to turn the home inspector away. Instead, the insurance company categorized (or grouped) the home…
Read MoreHow to save money by reporting claims early
Let’s face it: Insurance companies have a bad reputation. Most people don’t trust insurance carriers (let alone like them). And, while many people learn this distrust from others, some learn it from bad experiences with the insurance companies themselves. With a culture of skepticism surrounding insurers, it isn’t surprising why home inspectors don’t want to…
Read MoreHow to make half of your insurance deductible disappear
From our decade of claims data, we know that the majority of home inspectors receive at least one claim in their career. And, when they do, it never feels great—particularly when that claim is meritless as about 80 percent of home inspection claims are. In his recent article, home inspector Randy Sipe described the feeling…
Read MoreAdditional Insured Endorsements: How to protect your business when you refer clients to outside inspectors or contractors
Try as you may, you can’t always be a one-stop shop. Maybe your inspection business is still small, so you don’t offer many additional services beyond the basic inspection. Or maybe your client needs something that goes beyond the Standard of Practice (SOP).1 Regardless, if you’re unable to meet a client’s needs in-house, you’re likely to…
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