Interior Design Insurance
Professional interior designers must have coverage against losses due to theft, data breaches, company property damage, and other possible incidents.
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Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.
As an interior designer, you transform spaces with furniture, lighting, flooring, fabrics, and other design elements. You must interpret the tastes and desires of each individual client and successfully bring them to life. Interior designers face risks like any other type of business professional and have some unique exposures as well. You need comprehensive business insurance to help protect you and ensure your business can thrive even if things go wrong.
An independent insurance agent can help you get set up with the right kind of insurance for interior designers. These agents can shop and compare policies and quotes for you from many different carriers to get you matched to the best policy. But until then, here's a breakdown of interior designer insurance.
Why Do Interior Designers Need Insurance?
Interior designers need the right protection in case of financial losses related to various hazards. Whether you work from home, an office, or a retail space, you have a variety of risk exposures that could possibly harm your business, including:
- Employee or customer injuries at your office or studio
- Damage to other people’s property
- Professional errors or negligence
- Fire, extreme weather events, theft, or vandalism that causes damage to business property
- Cyber-attacks or data breaches
- Auto accidents while driving for business purposes
Interior design insurance can help your business get the reimbursement it needs after one of these incidents and many others. Without the right coverage, your business might not be able to financially recover after a disaster.
Interior Designers Need Professional Liability Coverage
While commercial general liability insurance provides broad coverage for bodily injury and property damage caused by your business, it does not cover you for errors, failures, mistakes, or oversights in the professional services you provide. Delays or other unexpected problems, such as improper measurements, the wrong materials ordered, etc., can be costly for both you and your clients.
You could get sued for errors or professional negligence that harm your clients no matter how careful you are. Just one lawsuit can be financially devastating.
Professional indemnity insurance for interior designers, also called interior designer's professional liability insurance, provides coverage for design professionals, their partners, their employees, and the partnership or corporation for damage caused by providing or failing to provide accurate services. Interior design liability insurance covers costs associated with legal defense if you get sued, as well as any judgments or settlements you must pay.
Most errors and omissions policies can be customized for your particular area of expertise and for the risks you face. There are numerous instances in which an interior designer can be sued for professional negligence, including the following:
- Ordering the wrong materials (e.g., flooring, furniture, fixtures, etc.)
- Giving harmful or erroneous advice
- Failing to communicate changes in plans, materials, timelines, and other pertinent information about a project
- Making mistakes in scheduling, ordering, or measuring
- Failing to complete a project on time
- Failing to complete a project within the promised budget
Professional liability insurance for interior designers can help your design firm recover after an unexpected, expensive lawsuit related to any of these incidents and others.
Other Forms of Insurance Needed by Interior Designers
Like many other businesses, the risks you face as an interior designer likely don’t end with basic property and liability concerns. You might want to talk with an independent insurance agent about your need for other types of interior designer business insurance, including the following:
- Cyber liability insurance: This protects your business if private or sensitive customer or employee information gets compromised in a cyber-attack or data breach. Cyber liability insurance typically provides coverage for legal fees, costs associated with notifying customers of the breach, investigation costs, public relations costs, and more, depending on your needs.
- Commercial general liability insurance: This covers costs associated with lawsuits related to third-party claims of bodily injury or personal property damage caused by your business. It's one of the core coverages included in most business insurance policies.
- Business interruption insurance: This coverage can help reimburse your business for losses during temporary shutdowns due to covered disasters such as a fire, break-in, etc. It can provide continued revenue and expense coverage, such as for rent and employee wages, during the shutdown.
- Commercial auto insurance: Commercial car insurance for interior designers is necessary if you have business vehicles used to make deliveries or complete other work tasks. It can reimburse your business for losses related to company vehicle accidents, lawsuits, and more.
- Commercial umbrella insurance: This provides coverage beyond the limits of your commercial general liability insurance and other liability policies. It begins providing benefits when the limits of your other liability policies have been exhausted, making it invaluable if you get faced with a multi-million-dollar lawsuit.
- Employment practices liability insurance: This protects you if an employee sues your business for discriminatory employment practices such as sexual harassment or wrongful termination. It can cover the cost of your business's legal defense and settlements.
- Workers compensation insurance: is required for nearly any business that has employees. It protects your employees from the costs related to work-related illnesses or injuries, and it prevents you from being sued in these cases.
An independent insurance agent can help your interior design business get equipped with all the types of coverage required to properly complete its required protection.
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How Much Does Interior Design Insurance Cost?
The cost of interior design insurance can vary based on many different factors. These can include the exact size and location of your business as well as its annual revenue. Whether your business has employees or uses company vehicles can also impact insurance costs. An independent insurance agent can help your interior design business find the most affordable coverage available in your area.
Why Work Together with an Independent Insurance Agent?
Independent insurance agents know which carriers specialize in interior design insurance, so they know where to find the right coverage for your business. They can shop and compare interior design insurance policies and quotes from multiple carriers for you. They'll ultimately get you matched to the right policy that offers the best blend of coverage and cost.