An independent insurance agency has the ability to provide quotations from various insurance markets to assist an insured to find the best coverage and pricing options available for their individual firm. Acting as a middleman, they do all the footwork for you from applications to insurance company contact and negotiation.

Professional Liability policies are written on a “claims made and reported basis”. That means that you have to have coverage in effect at the time a claim and/or potential claim is made against your services

Professional liability insurance is designed to cover the risks associated with your negligence in rendering a professional service. Often times referred to as Errors and Omissions or in medical terms would be malpractice insurance.

In general, most firms should carry general liability, automobile liability, workers compensation insurance and professional liability coverage. Additional coverages could include cyber liability, umbrella liability and employment practices liability .

Commercial general liability insurance is intended to provide coverage for liability arising out of nonprofessional acts that result in bodily injury, property damage, or personal and advertising injury.

Commercial property insurance is designed to cover property owned by the business and protects against fire, theft, and vandalism, just to name a few.

A Business Owners policy combines General Liability and Property insurance under one policy and is usually sold at a premium less than the total cost of the individual coverages.

A Business automobile policy provides coverage for vehicles owned by the insured. The policy provides coverage for liability and damage. The coverage may also include vehicles owned or leased by the company, or employee-owned vehicles used for business purposes.

➢ Hired and Non-Owned Automobile Coverage is utilized when a business does not have vehicles titled in the business name. Many business owners use vehicles for work that they do not own – ex. Renting, leasing or borrowing a car for business purposes. Although the vehicle is not owned, by the business, risks on the road exist and that’s where this coverage would apply. It is important to note that this coverage does not pay for physical damage to the vehicle itself.

➢ Hired Automobile Coverage – Provides Liability coverage when you or your employees drive a rented, leased or borrowed car for business.

➢ Non-Owned Automobile Coverage – Applies to employees using their own cars for business. It serves as extra coverage over the employee’s personal auto coverage for bodily injury and property damage liability.

Workers’ compensation is a form of employer insurance coverage that pays benefits to workers who are injured or become disabled as a result of their job.

Umbrella Liability Insurance is an extra layer of liability protection that provides coverage in excess of your underlying policies. It can also be referred to as Excess Liability or Commercial Umbrella.

Cyber liability insurance is an insurance policy that provides businesses with a combination of coverage options to help protect the company from data breaches and other cybersecurity issues, including wrongful transfer of funds. It's not a question of if your organization will suffer a breach, but when.

Tail or Extended Discovery Coverage is designed to cover claims that are made after a firm is no longer in business and stops carrying a professional liability policy. The coverage is an extension of the last policy that was carried and can be purchased to cover claims made for a predetermined amount of years into the future.

In Retroactive or Prior Acts coverage is the date on your policy that usually corresponds to the first date you purchased professional liability coverage and have continually maintained it. The policy covers you for services rendered subsequent to this date. Having coverage all the way back to the inception date of the firm is referred to as Full Prior Acts Coverage.

Some insurance companies will allow a credit on their policies if more than one coverage is written by the same insurance carrier.

A certificate of insurance is a form that is provided by your insurance agent. The form will include information relative to the insurance coverages carried by your firm. A certificate is usually requested by your client/customer to serve as verification of coverage and to determine if the coverage meets insurance contract requirements. The party requesting the certificate is then listed on the form as the certificate holder. The certificate is only issued for informational purposes and reflects only those coverages carried at the time of issue.

A certificate can be requested very simply – the bottom line, what is best for you? You can call the request in or e-mail the request to any of the DesignPro team. We strive to provide same day certificate issuance.

We can e-mail the certificate directly to your client with a copy to you, OR send the certificate directly to you for transmittal to your client.

➢ We will only issue a certificate after receiving approval from your office – even if the certificate was previously issued.

➢ At renewal of your policy(ies) we will send you a list of the certificates issued throughout the year and ask that you update the list to indicate those that should be renewed.

Often times clients require a certificate of insurance be sent to them that shows the current insurance coverages that you carry. They are shown on the form as a certificate holder. Showing someone on the form as a certificate holder does not provide any benefits to them but is issued for information purposes only. An additional insured is an entity that is added onto the policy and obtains certain benefits under that coverage. While generally available under general liability and automobile policies, additional insureds are not allowed under professional liability or workers compensation policies.