Brian,
I require any contractor who subs to me to have liability insurance. Most companies are now asking for a $1,000,000 minimum liability policy (that's 1M per occurance.) I have a $2,000,000 aggregate policy that I pay about $550 per year. My rates have gone down due to the fact that I have not created, caused or participated in any accidents (so far). The initial cost was $650 per year. The carrier is ITT/Hartford, a reputable company. Never had my policy rejected for any project. You should be able to find a insurance agent who can help with this.

Professional liability is another story. If you do consulting, it really is important. This is for any documentation or statement types of accidents. This is around $6000 per year. Hope this helps.

I just received a quote for Professsional Liability Insurance for a $1MM/$2MM policy, about $5200 per year.


Some believe that a good rule of thumb is enough to cover all of your or your company's assets in event of a problem/lawsuit. This type of insurance is relatively cheap if your assets are less than $300K but you would probably be operating as a sole proprietor v. a C Corp. or similar. You would also have to check/compare the terms and conditions amongst prospective insurers. Operating your company under a Corporate veil in case anything should go wrong is absolutely necessary in this day and age, then only your company and it's assets can be sued v. your own. (Check with your attorney and accountant - for both legal and financial ramifications.)

Many of the projects that I have been associated with require a minimium of a $1 million policy, to be in force.

It seems there are more and more lawyers and less engineers in this society so at one point we all are probably going to get lawsuited, even the best. With all this said I enjoy and highly respect the engineering profession but sometimes wonder if it is better to be the designer/builder or the owner.

I hope this helps,
Richard M. Beldyk, PE, CWEng