My Personal Finance Journey

Hello and Welcome!

My name is Jacob, a husband to a wine-blogger wife, father to two bouncy-boy toddlers, and I'm the owner/author of My Personal Finance Journey. By day, I am a scientist working in bio-pharmaceutical development. Personal finance has been my hobby since 2007 when I started teaching myself through books (that finance B.S. degree didn't teach me much!). Learning how to save, adopt a frugal mindset, and invest my own money soundly has allowed me to have a savings rate > 50%, increase my net worth by > 20 times, grow my career, and always do what I love. Check out the About Me page to learn more!

Categories

Groups I Am a Part Of

Proud Member of the Yakezie Network

Professional Liability Insurance – Is it Something You Really Need?

————————————————————————————————————————
Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the “About” or “First-Time Visitor” pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you canย subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
————————————————————————————————————————

The following is a guest post. Enjoy!ย 

Professional Liability Insurance – Is it Something You Really Need?
For many tradesmen and small business owners, liability insurance used to be what other people (anyone but them) needed. After all, theyโ€™d done an apprenticeship and had been properly trained โ€“ what could possibly go wrong?

The “Sue-Happy” Attitude in Today’s Society

What did go wrong was that the tradesmen and small business owners found themselves operating in an increasingly litigious world. This was a world where there didnโ€™t seem to be โ€˜accidentsโ€™ any more; where customers knew their rights โ€“ and where they werenโ€™t slow to claim/sue if they thought they were entitled to compensation.

An Example…

Imagine for a minute that youโ€™re a carpet fitter. You arrive at someoneโ€™s house with a new carpet to install. As youโ€™re carrying it in you knock a vase off the hall table. Is it โ€˜just one of those things?โ€™ An unfortunate accident? Or, are you liable for the damage? Youโ€™ll have guessed that itโ€™s the last one.
All tradesmen have the potential for โ€˜accidentsโ€™ like these. But, the possible liabilities donโ€™t stop there. More and more, new businesses are being created in the service sector, and they will also find that they need liability cover. A mistake made online can be just as costly as causing physical damage to someoneโ€™s home or property.

Know Your Risks

Unfortunately, if youโ€™re in business these days, itโ€™s not enough to worry about people taking forever to pay you; about the possibility of a โ€˜double dip recession,โ€™ or the latest tax the Government has planned. Now, thereโ€™s the ever-present threat of having to pay compensation hanging over you.
So itโ€™s no wonder that many tradesmen and small business owners are now paying particular attention to contractorsย to arrange it for them.ย When even a relatively small claim has the potential to seriously damage your business, it makes sense to deal with professional liability insurance company who has years of experience and a dedicated teamย specializingย in liability insurance.
But for now, let’s get back to your hypothetical career discussed above as a carpet fitter. Sooner or later, youโ€™re going to send that vase flying. But when you do, rest assured that liability insurance will be there to pick up the pieces.

How about you all? Do you think that liability insurance is needed for businesses these days? If you own a business, do you carry a liability insurance policy?ย 


Share your experiences by commenting below!

Jacob’s Thoughts – Listed below are my random thoughts as I was reading this article.

  • So let’s see – do I feel that business owners need liability insurance?ย 
    • Yes, indeed I do.ย 
    • Typically, the purpose of insurance is to protect you from financial disasters and protect your earnings ability.ย 
    • So, if you own a small business and it is your sole source of income, I believe it does make sense to have business insurance (which usually includes a liability coverage portion).ย 
  • One question that I did have in particular was to any of the full time bloggers out there….Do you all have business insurance for if someone sued you for copyright infringement, etc? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on this and whether or not you think it is needed…
  • As I was reading through the post above, it really reminded me of all of the precautions that the moving company had to take in packing up and transporting my belongings during my two moves to Virginia and Philadelphia over the past few years.ย 
    • In these moves, every component I owned was wrapped so carefully, that it made me cringe to think of the shear number of lawsuits the company has no doubt faced over the years that’s forced them to start being some strict about their packing. Truly amazing!ย 

    ***Photo courtesy ofย http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2795/4122171512_3f4dc612d0.jpg

    About the Author Jacob A Irwin

    Hi folks! My name is Jacob. I am the owner and operator of My Personal Finance Journey. I started this blog in January of 2010 and have enjoyed the journey ever since. Since finishing up graduate school in Virginia in 2014, I have been working in biopharmaceutical development in Colorado. You can read more about me and this site hereโ€‹. Please contact me if you have any questions!

    follow me on:

    Related Posts

    14 Feb, 2023

    Is Your Employer’s Group Life Insurance Enough?
    29 Mar, 2022

    The F.I.R.E. Movement: Is It the Financial Strategy for You?๏ฟผ
    10 Jan, 2014

    Year-End 2013 Blogging and Personal Goal Review
    01 Jul, 2013

    Mid-Year 2013 Blogging and Personal Goal Setting Check-In and Progress Update
    13 Jun, 2013

    I Have FINALLY Moved the Journey to WordPress Self Hosted!
  • Kellen says:
    October 12, 2011 at 1:41 pm

    I work for a CPA firm, so we carry a lot of insurance for professional liability. However, as a blogger I never really considered getting insurance, although I may be naive in my belief that I don't say much that would be worth suing for…
    My recent post September cash flow update

    Reply
    • MyPerFinJourney says:
      October 17, 2011 at 2:46 pm

      Agreed Kellen. One of the benefits of blogging is that the primary investment at risk is the HUGE amount of time you place in to building a site and writing content. I've probably spent a thousand hours or so in the past 2 years to build this site.

      The only danger of a lawsuit I've heard of with blogging is if you use a picture on your site that someone owns the copyright on.
      My recent post Contents and Building Insurance – Are These Coverage Types Necessary and What Do They Include?

      Reply

    • Popular posts

    Is the Infinite Banking Strategy Using Whole Life Insurance Right for You?
     Invest & Retire
    Apr 29, 2013
    CarMax’s MaxCare Extended Service Plan Dissected and Other First-Hand Account CarMax Car-Buying Experiences
     Saving Money & Frugal Living
    May 22, 2012
    Debt Free Direct Tour de Personal Finance 2013 โ€“ Final Championship Sprint on the “Parisian Champs-ร‰lysรฉes” of Personal Finance
     Blogging
    Jul 21, 2013
    $141.20 Giveaway – Community and Charity 10% Monthly Blog Income Give Back # 5 – February 2012 Edition
     Blogging
    Feb 11, 2012
    >