Home inspectors like you help buyers and ensure that their future house doesn’t have costly problems. In your line of work, lawsuits, workplace injuries, business property damage, and other unfortunate events can happen. Because of this, consider getting home inspector insurance. This grants the protection you need against the devastating risks you face when and after becoming a home and building inspector. Read on to know the inclusions, the cost of premiums, and the companies.
There are many factors that affect the overall home inspector insurance cost. For one, each kind of coverage has its own rates. The table below outlines the cost of each policy you need to purchase as a home inspector:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Percentage Of Customers That Get This | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General liability insurance | $47 | $564 | 95% |
| Errors and omissions insurance | $51 | $612 | 70% |
| Workers compensation insurance | $72 | $864 | 92% |
| Commercial property insurance | $53 | $636 | 70% |
| Business owner’s policy | $49 | $588 | 75% |
The average cost of a $1 million general liability insurance for home inspectors is $47 per month or $564 per year. This home inspector liability insurance cost estimate assumes that you have 5 employees and make $500,000-$750,000 per year.
On the other hand, professional liability insurance is $51 per month or $612 per year. Factors that affect home inspector errors and omissions insurance cost are claims history, whether or not you work with subcontractors, whether or not you’re a member of home inspection organizations, and more.
Here’s another table that gives you a better idea by outlining the cost of companies with cheap home inspector insurance rates:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEXT | $25 | $300.00 | Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for home inspectors |
| CoverWallet | $30.58 | $366.96 | Home inspector insurance quotes comparison online |
| Tivly | $33 | $396 | Comparing home inspector insurance quotes over the phone |
| Thimble | $35 | $420 | Short-term general liability insurance for home inspectors |
| Hiscox | $37 | $444 | General liability insurance with worldwide coverage for home inspectors |
| ASHI | $60 | $720 | Home inspectors looking for comprehensive home inspection insurance |
Lastly, you can also compare quotes yourself to know the average cost of home inspector insurance. Start by clicking the “Get Quotes” button on this page.
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
| CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Thimble | Hiscox | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $500,000/$1,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $500,000/$2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Products and completed operations aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Advertising injury coverage aggregate limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Tenant’s legal liability coverage limit | $1,000,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | Excluded | Excluded |
| Hired/non-owned auto liability coverage included? | Yes | No | $2,500-$5,000 | Excluded |
| Equipment breakdown floater included? | No | No | Excluded | Excluded |
| Can you get a certificate of insurance online? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deductible | $0 | $0 | $0-$2,500 | $0 |
Home inspector liability insurance grants protection against bodily injuries or property damage that clients, independent contractors, and other third parties file against you. The table above compares the quotes of the recommended insurance companies.
Your home inspection insurance package’s general liability insurance can be used when these happen:
The client slips and falls in your office
You damage a door, flooring, gutter, or roofing while doing an inspection, and the owner demands reimbursement
Your ladder or any other equipment inflicts injuries to a client or any other person present in the house you’re inspecting
General liability for home inspectors is very comprehensive. Aside from bodily injuries or property damage, this home inspection business insurance will also protect you from these exposures:
Copyright infringement, slander, and libel claims
Damage to the landlord’s property
Accidents caused by a rented/hired commercial vehicle
| CoverWallet (Best) | NEXT | Hiscox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | No |
| Deductible | $0 | $0 | $500 |
You need professional liability insurance for home inspectors, which is also called errors and omissions insurance. The table above compares the quotes of the recommended insurance companies.
E&O insurance for home inspectors grants a shield if clients file a claim because you didn’t accomplish your work properly.
Situations where this insurance becomes useful, are as follows:
The client filed a claim because your report contradicts the real condition of the house
A lawsuit is filed because you submitted a report which was based on the information of another client
The client decided to sue and accused you of inflating your services or conspiring with the property owner to get extra pay
E and O insurance for home inspectors is underwritten as an occurrence policy or as a claims-made policy.
The best E&O insurance for home inspectors is occurrence-based because it can provide coverage even if its policy period has expired.
Insurance companies allow you to get home inspector professional liability insurance as a stand-alone policy or as an add-on to general liability insurance.
| CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Thimble | Hiscox | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $430,000 | $25,000/$500,000 | $10,000/$100,000 |
| Contents coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $35,000 | $25,000-$500,000 | $10,000/100,000 |
| Outdoor signs | Excluded | $2,500 | Excluded | Excluded |
| Accounts receivable | Excluded | Excluded | $5,000/$10,000 | Included |
| Money and securities | Excluded | $2,500 | $1,000 | Included |
| Lock and keys | Excluded | $1,000 | Excluded | Excluded |
| Business interruption floater | Excluded | Included | Included | Included |
| Equipment breakdown floater | Excluded | Included | Excluded | Excluded |
| Inland marine insurance floater | Excluded | Excluded | $10,000 | Excluded |
| Employee dishonesty floater | Excluded | $5,000 | $2,500 | Included |
| Deductible | $500-$1,000 | $500 | $500-$2,500 | $500-$10,000 |
Commercial property insurance reimburses your losses if something happens to the office and its furniture, computer, HVAC, and other contents. The table above compares the quotes of the recommended insurance companies.
This property inspector insurance policy applies if damage or loss happens because of:
Fire
Theft
Vandalism
Civil commotion
Riot
Volcanic action
Lightning
Sinkhole collapse
Vehicle
Aircraft
Winds
Snow
Hail
Commercial property insurance doesn’t grant protection against earthquakes, floods, and mudslides. You need to purchase endorsements from your real estate inspection insurance to cover these perils.
Residential inspection insurance programs of most carriers allow you to get a business owner’s policy.
A business owner’s policy is a type of insurance that combines general liability and commercial property insurance. You can also get cyber liability, business interruption, equipment breakdown, and other business insurance from this.
As a home inspector, it’s smart to get a business owner’s policy instead of buying general liability and commercial property insurance individually.
This is because you’ll get cheaper rates and enjoy easier policy management.
Workers' compensation insurance is useful if you’re running a home inspection agency. Get this as soon as you have one or more employees.
Workers' compensation insurance is helpful when these things happen:
An employee gets sick because of mold exposure
An employee falls from a height while inspecting a house gutter
An employee trips on a cracked flooring and sustains a hip injury
Failure to get workers' compensation insurance as a home inspector will result in fines and penalties, such as:
A fine amounting to twice the cost of workers' compensation insurance
An accumulating fine
Cease-and-desist order
Imprisonment
Workers' compensation insurance provides the money you can use to cover these costs when an employee sustains a work-related injury or disease:
Medical treatment
Hospitalization
Medication
Rehabilitation and retraining
Lost wages
Funeral expenses and allowance to dependents in case of death
The law only requires you to cover part-time and full-time employees with workers' compensation insurance. Nonetheless, you can name yourself as an insured in the language of this residential home inspection insurance policy.
Home inspector’s worker's compensation insurance might come with an employer’s liability insurance.
Employer’s liability insurance grants protection if an employee files a claim for negligence against you after sustaining a work-related injury or disease.
This provides $100,000-$5 million worth of coverage that you can use to cover the following expenses:
Compensation for pain, suffering, and medical treatment
Defense costs
Settlements
Residential building inspector insurance programs offer commercial auto insurance if you use an owned vehicle for work.
Commercial auto insurance grants protection if something happens while you or an employee is on the way to inspect a house, meet a client, or get supplies and pieces of equipment.
The functions of commercial auto insurance are as follows:
Cover the medical treatment or property damage of third parties who got involved in an auto accident you or an employee caused
Pay for parts repair or replacement expenses if your commercial vehicle got damaged because of a collision, fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils
Reimburse vehicle rental expenses
Pay for the medical treatment of the driver and passengers if your commercial vehicle got involved in an accident caused by an uninsured/underinsured driver
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
Your choice of insurance provider for building inspector insurance is critical. There are many home inspection insurance providers in the industry. The last thing you want is to fall victim to a cheap provider who can't protect you when you have lawsuits filed against you.
Read their reviews below to know the pros, cons, and general liability insurance costs of the best home inspector insurance companies.
Best overall
Get an online proof of insurance and send as a text message, email, or social media post
Fastest general liability insurance for home inspectors
Great customer service and reputation
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Outstanding value for money
Bundle two or more insurance policies and get a 10% discount
Couldn’t find any
A great option for cheap home inspector insurance rates is NEXT. With this company, you can save up to 10% by bundling general liability insurance with commercial property insurance and other business insurance policies.
NEXT offers home inspector errors and omissions insurance as part of its general liability insurance. And so, this company’s home inspector E&O insurance cost is always added to general liability insurance premiums.
Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for home inspectors
Average cost: $25 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Online policy management and payment
Get insured with or without the help of an insurance agent
Compare home inspector insurance quotes online
Cancel a policy anytime
Not an insurance company but a broker selling the quotes of its partners
CoverWallet isn’t a home inspection insurance company, so it might not be the first to cross your mind. But note that this insurance broker can help you get insured fast. Use CoverWallet’s online quote comparison tool, indicate your location, profession, and policy needed, and receive the offers of different carriers within minutes.
You can also get insured immediately. Proceed to buy a quote and enjoy perks - online certificate of insurance (very useful for home inspection licensing and filing), online insurance payment, and adding of additional insureds at no additional cost.
Best for: Home inspector insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $30.58 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Responsive customer service
Call and compare quotes over the phone
A partner of many reputable insurance companies
You need to call to get a quote
Try calling Tivly (formerly CommercialInsurance.NET) if NEXT or CoverWallet can’t provide coverage. Policies you can get from this company are general liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, professional liability insurance, and more. A representative will help you choose coverage options and discuss the details of your policy.
Best for: Comparing home inspector insurance quotes over the phone
Average cost: $33 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Sells short-term general liability insurance for home inspectors
Quick to issue quotes
Choose limits and deductibles
You can’t reach customer service by calling
Thimble’s home inspector insurance offers a business owner’s policy and workers' compensation insurance.
This company's business owner’s policy provides $1 million-$2 million general liability coverage. On the other hand, the limits of commercial property coverage are $25,000-$500,000.
You can get short-term general liability insurance from Thimble. This grants coverage for hours, days, weeks, or months and has $1 million-$2 million per occurrence and aggregate limit.
Best for: Short-term general liability insurance for home inspectors
Average cost: $35 per month
Our rating: 9/10
14-day money-back guarantee
Automatic policy renewal
Fast to process claims
Worldwide coverage
Poor customer reviews
Hiscox provides coverage through its building inspector insurance program, which consists of general liability, professional liability, business owner’s policy, and cyber liability insurance. Similar to Thimble, Hiscox allows you to choose between policy limits and deductibles.
Best for: General liability insurance with worldwide coverage for home inspectors
Average cost: $37 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Offers insurance products tailored for home inspectors
Comprehensive and affordable home inspector insurance costs
Provides exclusive home inspector insurance benefits
Limited home inspection insurance requirements; the only requirement is ASHI membership
Home inspector coverage is only available to ASHI members
The ASHI was established in 1979 to help home inspectors expand their careers and businesses by availing the resources that promote the best practices in home inspection and ownership. Today, it provides its 5,000+ members with exclusive general liability coverage and other insurance with benefits other companies don't offer.
The ASHI offers its members home inspectors' insurance in collaboration with Home Inspector Pro Insurance. The partnership strengthens the "ASHI Advantage, " a home inspector insurance pay-per-inspection program. Among its benefits are:
Inspector and member discounts
Upgraded inland marine equipment coverage
Free extended reporting period (ERP)
The partnership means ASHI can now extend Inspector Pro's robust management system at affordable costs. ASHI members have access to professional underwriters who understand the home inspection insurance sector. With ASHI's insurance products, home inspectors can access various endorsements to cover other additional services they offer to their clients.
Inspector Pro is an experienced home inspector insurance company that has made revolutionary innovations in the industry. They've worked with home inspection companies for years. They know home inspectors' needs, enabling them to offer members enhanced insurance protection.
Best for: Home inspectors looking for comprehensive home inspection insurance
Average cost: $60 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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