Real Estate Insurance in Tennessee
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 Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, or anywhere in between, if you work in Tennessee 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 Tennessee may be different.
Types of Real Estate Insurance in Tennessee
There are 3 main types of insurance for real estate:
- errors and omissions
- cyber liability
- general liability insurance
Errors and omissions insurance for real estate agents in Tennessee is mandatory. Tennessee is one of 13 mandatory states where typically each agent will obtain their own individual agent-based policy plus an excess policy purchased by the brokerage. At PBI Group we believe there is a better way, one where the agency buys one policy that covers both the agents and the company. This 1 policy has broader coverages and better protection than what is provided by have disparate agent policies topped off by an excess policy.
Errors and Omissions Insurance in Tennessee
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 Tennessee
Cyber Liability Insurance for real estate is a relatively new type of insurance policy in Tennessee 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 Tennessee
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 Tennessee 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!
We have utilized PBI for both our E&O insurance as well as Cyber for several years now. They have consistently provided a high level of professional customer service, both helpful and informative. In addition, they shop and vet their carriers well and have been able to provide the lowest rates available.
Working with the PBI Group on my E&O insurance was a pleasure indeed. We learned on short notice in the middle of December that the previous provider of our E & O Insurance was increasing the cost of such insurance by almost 18 – 20% and the deductible offered by the firm went from $2500 to $10,000 per claim. Since we weren’t expecting such a major change in cost with the renewal deadline staring us in the face…we contacted several other firms to inquire about E&O Coverage for our firm. After several calls and finding that most firms were also only offering E&O with a very high deductible per claim with no first line of defense period. We contacted the PBI Group and found to our amazement, that their coverage was what we had basically had for years… a $2500 deductible with an offer of first dollar defense in the policy. With a quick application being submitted with our previous loss runs, we were quickly informed that we could obtain all of the coverage we were looking for at a reasonable price. We opted for this policy with the PBI Group and informed them that we would need to insure our coverage no later than 26 December 2012 to comply with one of the two states where we operate; with the deadline for the other state by 31 December 2012. The policy was quickly generated for our review and documentation Certificates were sent by the PBI Group for both States allowing us to meet all of our requirements in a timely manner. In addition to that, PBI sent Certificates of Coverage to our Franchisor which is a requirement of our franchise agreement as well. PBI service was absolutely the best service we have ever experienced in dealing with E&O Insurance Firms from the product, the cost, and the manner in which all were handled for us. The firm, in our opinion, has no equal in the business! We have been in the Real Estate Business since 1869, the PBI Group will be our carrier from this point forward. We give our unqualified recommendations to any Real Estate Firm who is seeking a firm to handle their E & O Insurance business.
