As a working professional who is constantly on the job, a potential lawsuit is often an inch away. Erroneous acts, negligence, and other misfortunes can always spell trouble for you or your business. That’s the reason liability and insurance continue to remain a critical subject in the world of business.
Liability and insurance are two words that tie really well. If you are liable for the loss you cause someone else, whether this is in form of bodily injury or property damage, you will most likely incur some losses when settling that claim.
General liability insurance
Most people invest in commercial liability insurance ontario to cover them against common losses leading to lawsuits. However, it should be noted that this kind of insurance is never sufficient enough to protect directors or working professionals, whether this is in a hospital setting, an investment firm, a construction firm you name it. Professionals working in the service sector need to be sufficiently covered against errors and omissions, a product that most people tend to overlook though.
Errors and omission liability
This coverage is extremely important for those working in the service industry. If you are a doctor or a nurse for instance, you need errors and omission liability to protect you against lawsuits claiming negligence or failing to perform your duties.
Of course this does not mean that you should be unethical in providing your services. But as it is, anything is bound to happen in the line of work. For instance, if you are a nurse, you are naturally bound to respond to people suffering from bodily pain. Helping a chocking patient at a restaurant only for things to go wrong in the process is likely to land you in trouble, even though you were just acting as a good Samaritan. Because of this risk that you’re likely to run into from time to time, you need some sort of assurance that your assets and career will be safe at least in the long term.
Tail-coverage: a rare insurance product that people tend to ignore
If you worked as a doctor and then someone filed a lawsuit against you long after you retired, would you be liable to compensate them? Unfortunately, the law requires that you do so.
However, the problem is that this lawsuit may find you in a sorry state; i.e when you have already discontinued your policy coverage because you’re no longer in active service. It is for this reason that tail coverage liability exists to address the needs of those who have quit active service. You therefore need it in most cases.
Conclusion
Liability and insurance go hand in hand. Liabilities will always be present regardless of your profession or what you own. However, getting sufficiently covered could mean the difference between remaining in business or closing down shop because you have nothing much left to continue running your business.