Buying or selling a home is a big deal. For most people, it’s the single biggest expense they’ll ever make. That means that you have a lot of responsibility and impact on people’s lives as a real estate agent. You need to protect yourself and your business so that you can keep having a positive impact on your clients and keep yourself in the line of work. That’s where insurance comes in. But do you know what sorts of coverage you need to have?
Errors and Omissions Insurance
Nobody’s perfect. Even if you do your best every time, you’re bound to make a mistake or two at some point. That’s why it’s important to carry errors and omissions insurance, sometimes referred to as E&O insurance or professional liability insurance. It’s meant to cover you in the event that you make a work mistake or a client finds your job performance unsatisfactory. The state of Texas doesn’t require you to carry it, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good idea anyway.
Commercial Car Insurance
Chances are that you use your personal vehicle for work as a real estate agent. Most private car insurance policies won’t cover your car while it’s being used for business, which means that you’ll need commercial car insurance to make sure you’re covered while you work. You don’t want to find yourself on the hook for a car accident without coverage. In the case of your personal vehicle, you’ll be looking specifically at hired and non-owned auto insurance, while any vehicles owned by a real estate company will need commercial auto insurance.
Cyber Liability Insurance
No one thinks they’ll be the victim of a data breach. That’s always something that happens to someone else. The unfortunate reality is that you could be that someone at some point. It’s always better to be prepared for such an event than to try to recover after the fact. That’s why you need cyber liability insurance. Take a look at your professional liability policy to see if it’s included. If not, consider getting a separate policy for it.
As an honorable mention, it’s always a good idea to carry general liability insurance too. Having the right types of insurance coverage is the first step in making sure that you are protected as a real estate professional. You won’t do yourself or anyone else much good if you’re too busy sorting out problems that insurance could have handled for you.
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