As a home inspector, you travel to client homes, inspect their property, and make determinations based on your findings. This work is subject to a number of risks, from bodily injury to property damage to professional negligence. Additionally, there are various complications that could interrupt your day-to-day operations.

In order to prevent lost income or even bankruptcy, it is important to be covered with home inspector insurance to protect your business from the potential liabilities of your work.

To make an informed decision on the right policy for your business, you need to understand the cost of home inspector insurance (and factors that determine it) and know what a policy actually covers and make sure it meets your particular needs.

We Cover in This Guide

• The cost of home inspector insurance
• What is home inspector insurance?
• What does home inspector insurance cover?
• Benefits and risks
• Tips for buying
• FAQ
• Summary
• All types of insurance home inspectors may need

How Much Does Home Inspector Insurance Cost?

The cost of home inspector insurance is based on the coverage you need and choose to include in your policy. The most common coverages are the following:


When employees, work sites, or scenarios involve specific risks not included in the above policies, you can add as many additional coverages as necessary.

What is Home Inspector Insurance?

Since home inspectors spend a significant amount of time at a work site, there is a risk of damaging the property and injury to yourself, your employees, and even your clients. With home inspector insurance, you are covered for any claims resulting from such incidents.

Home inspector insurance offers coverage to protect home inspectors from risks that could result in liabilities, and circumstances that would prevent work from being done, leading to lost or reduced earnings.

What Does Home Inspector Insurance Cover?

Home inspector insurance policies can cover many types of claims, including the following:

• Bodily injury
• Property damage
• Personal injury
• Products/completed operations
• Professional negligence
• Previous contracted work
• Subcontractor errors
• Third party injury and property damage
• And as many additional coverages as you need

Your specific coverage will depend on the policy package you choose. Be sure to review your policy to understand your coverage.

Benefits and Risks

Home inspector insurance offers various benefits to cover risks, including:

• Protection against lawsuits: Buyers rely on a home inspector to decide whether or not to purchase a property. If something critical is missed during an inspection and your client suffers financial loss, they may file a lawsuit months later and you could be held liable. Home inspector insurance will cover you for such scenarios.
• State regulation compliance: Many states require home inspectors to carry certain types of coverage, like general liability, to operate their business.
• Maintaining operations: A number of scenarios can force a home inspector to stop working, like a disaster or when essential equipment breaks down. With home inspector insurance, your lost income and the cost to repair or replace the equipment is covered.

Tips for Buying

When considering the cost of home inspector insurance (and factors that determine it), keep the following in mind before making your decision:

• Identify your risks: Some policies may include irrelevant coverage for your business, while others do not address your particular risk factors. Be sure to thoroughly analyze your business risks and choose all the coverages you need.
• Work with an experienced agent: While you may be able to identify your known potential risks, working with an experienced agent to develop an insurance portfolio will insure you are covered for areas of exposure you may not have considered.
• Review your policy: Before signing, make sure to carefully read your policy to ensure it provides the coverage you want and need. Add in any coverage that might be missing.

FAQ

What is ASHI certified?
ASHI stands for American Society of Home Inspectors. It is the highest certification level accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and those certified are the only third-parties officially approved to perform home inspections.

Is workers’ compensation necessary for home inspectors?
Yes. Any business with employees may require workers’ compensation. With certain potential claims and liabilities, health insurance alone will not provide enough coverage. Additionally, having this insurance will allow employees to feel safe in their work environment.

Why do home inspectors need general liability insurance?
You may think that your only job risk is a mistake in judgement and this will be covered by E&O insurance, but you are not really considering the entire process of inspecting a home. Checking on the integrity of the roof or the pipes in a bathroom could lead to unanticipated property damage or even injury. General liability insurance covers you for any number of accidents outside of your control.

Summary

Home inspector insurance protects home inspectors from the daily risks and potentially calamitous financial damage from conducting your business.

By understanding the cost of home inspector insurance (and factors that determine it) and identifying your particular needs, you can ensure that your policy covers all your potential risks and can feel secure knowing that your business is protected.

All Types of Insurance Home Inspectors May Need

• Business Interruption: Covers lost income resulting from a disaster that forces your business to stop operating for a period of time.
• Inland Marine: Provides coverage for damage to and loss of your assets in a vehicle during transport. Commercial property insurance only protects items at your place of business or onsite.
• Errors & Omissions (E&O): Protects your business against costly legal and settlement expenses from mistakes, oversights, and errors during your own inspections and those of subcontractors.
• Commercial Auto: Pays for damages from accidents that occur while traveling to a job site while driving a company vehicle.
• General Liability: Covers the cost of replacing or repairing damage to property, and injury to yourself, your employee, or your client during an inspection or as a result of your advertising strategy.
• Equipment Breakdown: Provides coverage to replace or fix damaged equipment and replenish any lost income if your work is interrupted.