Real Estate Insurance in Washington
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 Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, or anywhere in between, if you work in Washington 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 Washington may be different.
Types of Real Estate Insurance in Washington
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 Washington, 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 Washington an obvious choice.
Errors and Omissions Insurance in Washington
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 Washington
“Cyber Liability Insurance for real estate is a relatively new type of insurance policy in Washington 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.
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General Liability Insurance for Real Estate in Washington
“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 Washington 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.
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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!
Fast, efficient, and excellent client service! An affordable E&O insurance policy from a real estate agency that I can highly recommend.
The experience is great to secure my E&O insurance for my real estate agency. Paul and Rachel were always available for questions about my E&O insurance. The process was quick and easy.
Your rapid/speedy response in handling my renewal was greatly appreciated, as well as saving me money on the premium. Thanks!!
If everything goes through as it is set up right now, I will have saved 30% from my current real estate E&O provider, even with a pending claim that has been sitting there for 2 years. Eric and Paul have been consultative and have answered all my questions and even helped me see that I was missing coverage that was important. I asked my former real estate E&O insurance provider to add those endorsements and they declined our request. Saving thousands of dollars is important to me right now, and PBI Group helped me accomplish that in no time!
For several years, Paul Bondy was our broker for E&O insurance covering our two real estate office in Bellingham, WA. I selected PBI Group after doing an exhaustive comparison between his and three competing broker offerings. Paul provided us with the most comprehensive, cost-effective coverage available at that time. When our corporate bookkeeper took over responsibility for our E&O, she went with a broker based on price point alone. This is the only reason Paul is no longer our broker. I still haven’t seen another broker provide us with coverage on par with the coverage Paul provided us.
”I have worked with Paul for ten years, and he has always worked to find the best quote and the best E&O program for my company. I would recommend Paul to anyone looking for E&O insurance.”
”Excellent service and superior knowledge about the application to real estate products.very satisfied after several years.”
My local Insurance company failed me. I called Paul and his team on a Saturday, needing E&O insurance coverage by Monday. They accomplished in a day, what my previous Broker was unable to do in a month and saved me money!!! I can’t recommend them enough. Thank you all!
Excellent service plus excellent coverage at a fair price for real estate E&O insurance. As a former insurance agent, I am very happy with the PBI Group. Also, I would like to say is that we found out the hard way how important it is to have the right E&O insurance provider. In 2002 we had an E&O carrier that is now serving federal time in Florida for running a fake front company. Several states were involved and were affected with no coverage when they needed it most. We didn’t have a claim but I tracked the source down and went to Washington State Insurance Commissioner and got the ball rolling. From time to time we get updates when he is ever allowed out of prison for emergencies like a family death etc. Knowing we are in legit hands helps us to continue to sleep well and perform with no claims!. Marcia Broker of 33.6 years!
Trusted partner for several years with great knowledge and service. PBI Group was by far the most responsive and provided us with the knowledge and service we needed to understand our real estate E&O insurance coverage. Thank you for your commitment to excellence. We would not hesitate to recommend your firm.
Paul Bondy and his team have provided outstanding customer service which actually started prior to entering into our first contract. What makes me stay now is how he had a claim handled, effective, timely and professionally. He has one of those services that seems like a waste right up to the point you need him and for me he proved his worth.
This is my first real estate E&O policy written by PBI Group. I have been pleased with their responsiveness, knowledge, and professionalism thus far. 2024 Update: We have been with PBI for a few years now and feel they are responsive to us, fairly priced and provide great coverage. I do not feel the need to even look anywhere else!
Very prompt replies and great service. We highly recommend for real estate E&O insurance!
Year after year Paul provides quality real estate E&O insurance service at competitive rates. Further, Paul makes sure that the renewal process is seamless and with minimal effort.