Real Estate Insurance in Maryland
The real estate industry can be exciting, fast-paced, and on-the-go especially in times when the real estate market is on the rise. This makes it a fun and profitable profession, but at the same time increases the likelihood for insurance claims against real estate professionals. Whether you work in Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, or anywhere in between, if you work in Maryland odds are 98+% of real estate professionals invest in various insurance policies to manage their exposure. Below we explain the 3 main types of real estate insurance and how working in Maryland may be different.
Types of Real Estate Insurance in Maryland
There are 3 main types of insurance for real estate:
- errors and omissions
- cyber liability
- general liability insurance
Although errors and omissions insurance is not mandated by Maryland, E&O insurance is often required by another authority such as your real estate franchise or bank partners. Regardless of whether it is actually mandatory, common sense or past experiences often make signing up for errors and omissions insurance in Maryland an obvious choice.
Errors and Omissions Insurance in Maryland
Just as the name would suggest, errors and omissions insurance covers errors and omissions made by real estate professionals working on behalf of a real estate brokerage. Specifically, E&O typically covers situations like not disclosing relevant information about the property, or not showing a property to a prospective buyer to even bodily injury or damage that could happen during a showing. In general terms, broadform E&O policies protect both the brokerages and individual real estate agents if they’re sued by a client because of a mistake they’ve made related to transactions in real estate.
Errors and omissions insurance for real estate often covers defense costs, legal costs, and court costs related to a claim.
Cyber Liability Insurance for Real Estate in Maryland
Cyber Liability Insurance for real estate is a relatively new type of insurance policy in Maryland that is designed to protect businesses from both 1st and 3rd party risks associated with cyber attacks and fraud. Real Estate professionals are a prime target for these types of attacks, because real estate deals involve complicated, multi-party, high value transactions and sensitive personal data.
First party Cyber Liability policies cover the real estate agent directly and include things like Cyber Extortion, Electronic Transfer Fraud, Deceptive Funds Transfer, and Telephone Tolls, to name a few. Direct coverage is important, but from what we have seen are rarely the reason why real estate professionals decide to purchase cyber liability policies. It’s the 3rd party protection that is usually the consideration, because that coverage would protect the vendor/partner or clients and in real estate deals, this is where the majority of the money is.
General Liability Insurance for Real Estate in Maryland
General Liability Insurance or business liability insurance is a common type of coverage in any industry that protects businesses from claims resulting from normal business operations not specifically related to the real estate industry.
Specifically, General Liability Insurance in Maryland will cover personal and advertising injury, damage to properties that are rented to your business, as well as, bodily injury or medical claims, and other common business liability exposure.
Finding the Right Partner
Navigating the regulations and designing a comprehensive policy for real estate professionals requires finding a partner with the right knowledge and experience. At PBI Group, we have written over 50,000 real estate E&O policies for thousands of real estate companies throughout the 50 states. For Cyber Liability insurance, a comprehensive plan specifically for real estate professionals doesn’t yet exist and the risks are changing and evolving constantly. PBI Group is committed to researching and working with carriers to create the best plan.
PBI Group is founded on the principles of trust, partnership, fanatical service and, most of all, industry leading E&O coverages. We do what we do because we believe there is a better way to buy professional liability insurance than online portals with cheap premiums and minimalist coverage. When your policy comes up for review, don’t just accept your renewal quote without finding out the benefits that come along with best.
RECOGNIZE ANY OF THESE RESPECTED REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS?We Love our Clients!
I have found Paul at PBI Group to be far more knowledgeable about the opportunities to insure my agents for the needs of a real estate brokerage that does both general brokerage and small-scale development and/or building. I would encourage anyone who experienced a lack of interest from other insurance brokers and carriers to speak with him about real estate E&O insurance.
Paul and his group are excellent to work with for my Maryland real estate E&O insurance. Very knowledgeable on coverage for E&O, found a better rate for me than 3 other agencies. Highly recommend them.
I’m always impressed by how knowledgeable, quick, and easy it is to work with PBI Group for our E&O and cyber insurance! I trust their process and guidance in helping our businesses understand and make decisions for all of our insurance needs. They have a long history in the industry and truly care about their customers and what policy details are best for us. I highly recommend Paul, Eric, and the team!
Paul and Rachel at PBI Group were great to work with…they kept after me to make sure I completed my paperwork well ahead of schedule to ensure continuous E&O insurance coverage for my real estate brokerage. They responded quickly to any questions and kept us well-informed throughout the renewal process. A pleasure to work with!
PBI Group was great to deal with for real estate E&O insurance.
I have been working with PBI Group for a number of years for my real estate E&O insurance and I have always been satisfied with their service.
We have placed our trust in PBI Group for our E&O insurance for many years. The service is personalized. They are prompt and follow up. The agency finds the best rates that support our real estate business needs.
