ADMITTED (or LICENSED) Carrier is an insurance company licensed and authorized to do business in a specific state and subject to regulation by the state insurance commissioner. Many states require brokers to seek coverage from admitted carriers first, placing coverage in an excess and surplus (E&S) market only when admitted carrier coverage is not available…
Read MoreTopic: Professional liability
Decision-Making Tips for Buying Insurance
The AIA Trust has assembled resources to help you to better understand what to look for in your professional liability insurance coverage. When applying for Professional Liability Insurance Underwriters and actuaries assess various factors to assess your firm’s potential risk, including your firm’s size, billings, location, clients, and project types. A Victor study identifies these…
Read MoreBusiness Owners Insurance
Almost every architectural firm or component office depends on some kind of specialized property to do business. Property coverage protects you against loss of or damage to essential pieces of your business such as valuable documents, laptops, or your place of business – because it only takes one disaster to wipe them out. Casualty coverage…
Read MoreProfessional Liability Insurance
While architects always try to do their best for their clients, mistakes happen. And in a litigious society, lawsuits have become an inevitability. Professional liability coverage not only pays judgment costs, it prepares you for a lawsuit by paying claims defense costs. Even fraudulent claims cost your firm money. The Victor & CNA program offers…
Read MoreJoint Ventures Should Anticipate Professional Liability Claims
A joint venture is essentially a partnership, but only for a specific, and usually limited, purpose. Both partnership agreements and joint venture agreements usually allocate responsibility and compensation between or among the parties. Comprehensive joint venture agreements also address issues such as determining fault for performance that is deficient and establishing obligations for rectifying harm…
Read MoreAn Accident-Free Workplace
National Safety Month focuses on preventative measures that employees can take to maintain an accident-free workplace. In keeping with that mission, here are some best practices that you can incorporate into your daily routine to ensure the safety of you and your colleagues.
Read MoreStatutes of Repose Can Be Vital in Limiting Exposure
It seems that during each cycle of the state legislative sessions, efforts are made either to expand or reduce the business and professional liability exposures faced by construction-related professional service firms. In some instances, under the overall rubric of “tort reform,” efforts are made to redefine exposure and channel liability. Some efforts are highly beneficial…
Read MoreCan a Design Professional Be in Absolute Compliance with the Law?
There are two kinds of clients who insist in a contract that a design professional absolutely comply with laws, regulations, codes, ordinances, standards and a plethora of other business and design constraints. First there is the client who, perhaps with strained incredulity, asks “Do you mean to tell me that you do not intend to…
Read MoreWho Owns the Instruments of Service?
It is not uncommon for clients to request ownership of your plans and specifications. Corporate clients often assume they will somehow be of future value. Educational clients think they can create a database of project information that will help them reduce future costs. Agencies of government reason that the public, having paid for your services,…
Read MoreProject Documentation: To Write or Not To Write
In suits alleging negligence in the performance of professional services, well-drafted documents and well-kept, comprehensive records are the strongest defensive weapons available to professionals. The following practices and procedures can be vital to a firm’s continued profitability in the face of costly litigation. Planning phase Put all agreements for the performance of services in writing,…
Read MoreProject Documentation: To Write or Not To Write
