Whenever your career involves performing a service, giving advice, or offering a product to others, you may be opening yourself up for a costly lawsuit if everything doesn’t go as planned. Having small business liability insurance is a safety net in case you face a suit in your line of work.
General liability covers non-professional negligent acts, meaning personal injury or property damage inflicted by you or an employee under your policy. A policy could cover medical bills from a client who falls and sustains an injury in your office, accidental damage inflicted on a worksite by you or one of your employees, or a suit claiming that your advertisement materials contain misleading information or copyright infringement.
Professional liability covers professional services and expertise rendered to others. It’s commonly called errors and omissions insurance (E&O). The Insurance Information Institute (III) writes that professional liability insurance covers claims of inaccurate advice, negligence, violation of good faith and fair dealing, and misrepresentation.
Here are a few of the oddest careers that may require small business liability coverage. Even if it’s not an outright legal requirement for your position, you could save your assets and your career by having adequate coverage in place.
Yoga helps participants achieve relaxation through their physical state. But that does not mean instructors are automatically exempt from stressful, expensive lawsuits. According to the Yoga Alliance, “Every wellness regimen has its risks of injury, yoga included. No teacher wants a student to be injured in their yoga class, but there is only so much a teacher can do to ensure their students’ safety.”
Whether a yoga session exacerbates a student’s pre-existing medical condition or someone sustains an injury from a challenging pose, yoga teachers and studios could find themselves on the hook for hefty legal fees without proper business insurance.
Many talented musicians offer lessons out of their homes either full- or part-time. But a homeowners or renters policy alone may not be enough to cover the risks to people and property associated with having a home business.
Jan Hazell of Teach Piano At Home presents an unlikely—but potentially risky—situation: “For example, if my piano stool had a damaged leg, which I hadn’t bothered to repair and a pupil fell off it and cracked his head open (hopefully very unlikely!) – the insurance would cover me for any compensation claims and legal fees.”
Consultants do their best to provide sound advice and services to clients, but it’s impossible to predict how every situation plays out. Without professional liability insurance, a consultant could face a lawsuit for anything that goes wrong with virtually any project. Tech Republic explains a few scenarios that could lead to a lawsuit against you:
− Your software introduces a virus or opens a loophole for hackers
− You design a database and, following implementation, a glitch in it leads to business interruption for your client and they sue you for the cost
− You miss a deadline on a project that results in financial loss for the client
Consultants should also be aware that handling clients’ sensitive information or introducing their own proprietary software into the mix makes them vulnerable to calculated cyber-attacks. Cyber security insurance helps minimize damages and protect against costly litigation.
Architects have a great responsibility to the future inhabitants of the structures they design. As EntreArchitect writes: “We make thousands of decisions during the development of a typical architectural project. Perfection is impossible.” Accordingly, architects need professional liability insurance to protect themselves against any number of unpredictable things that could go wrong.
These careers and many more present a risk of liability if something goes awry. Learn more about protecting yourself with small business liability insurance using CoverHound today!
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