Are you nervous to talk with your errors and omissions (E&O)保险公司?
You may worry that you’ll have to file a claim if you call, or that it costs money to ask questions. What if you start an insurance claim and you end up with an angry broker, 不断增加的法律费用, 更高的保费?
You should inform your broker and call your provider at the first sign of an E&o相关问题, 巴尼·施瓦茨说, 他是Assured Partners的高级副总裁, 是德州2021十大正规彩票app经纪人®风险管理合作伙伴.
“E&O供应商有帮助热线, and why they have them is because they don’t want agents and brokers to hesitate to reach out,他说.
There are several reasons you should involve your broker and provider as soon as a problem arises.
如果忽视问题，问题会越来越严重. Many brokerages won’t reach out until a claim is “serious,” 施瓦兹说. But by then, the issue may have turned into a lawsuit. E&O providers may be able to negotiate and resolve problems if they are included early on.
Say you get an angry email from a buyer in a past transaction who alleges the home has a problem you knew about and failed to disclose. Some agents ignore emails like this and hope the issue goes away. 然而, even if you are certain you did nothing wrong, you and your broker may benefit by informing your E&O保险公司会尽快收到邮件. 你的E&O provider can discuss options to help you resolve the situation before it turns into a full-blown lawsuit.
已解决的索赔费用昂贵. The average payout for a settled claim is $37,000, including expenses and indemnity payments. 德克萨斯州的索赔率甚至更高. Broker/owners who are proactive usually have fewer claims.
新的供应商不会帮到你. 因为E&O claims can arise six months to a year—or longer—after the fact, 索赔必须在保单期限内提出, 施瓦兹说.
Let’s say you knew about an issue and did nothing, and the issue becomes a claim after you change insurance providers. 当你将此作为新索赔报告时, your old provider won’t cover it because the claim wasn’t reported during the prior policy period. Your new provider won’t cover it either because the provider asked if there was prior knowledge before their policy took effect. 你知道，却什么也没做. So now, you may have to pay the costs yourself.
“这不是假设. I have known of this happening to three clients in the last few years,” 施瓦兹说.
提供者可以帮助你回应. 大多数E&O policies have no deductible charge and will assist if you receive a subpoena request or Texas Real Estate Commission complaint. They do this because mistakes such as a poorly answered TREC complaint or turning over more documents than legally required can turn into a claim.
你的医生更清楚. E&O providers have seen these topics before and have a good understanding of your risks. Policy holders frequently call about coverage on agent-owned properties, 扣除豁免, 网络保险. Fair housing and discrimination topics become more common in competitive and low-inventory markets.
“Brokers should feel comfortable discussing E&O主题. E&O insurers would be able to answer these questions,” 施瓦兹说.