Other Insurance Covers for Mechanical Engineers
While helpful, general liability insurance for mechanical engineers only covers you from third-party risks and claims. That only covers a fraction of your risk exposure. Taking out additional insurance coverage provides your engineering firm with all-around protection against every risk scenario.
Mechanical Engineer Worker's Compensation Insurance
Save for Texas, every state in the US requires mechanical engineers to have this coverage. Worker's compensation insurance policy shields your firm against the severe consequences of workplace injuries or illnesses. The coverage of workers' compensation insurance is outlined in the table below:
| Coverage | Function |
Employee Treatment/Medical Procedure | Workers' compensation insurance will cover the medical treatment/procedure of an employee who got sick or injured because of a work-related hazard. This includes surgeries, radiation therapies, chemotherapies, CT scans, etc. The fees of attending physicians are covered too |
Hospitalization | Your mechanical engineering firm’s employees will need to stay in the hospital for days, weeks, or months after sustaining a work-related injury or disease. This too is covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Workers comp will pay for hospital bills regardless of where the employee is admitted |
Medication | Your employee will surely need medicines to recover faster from a work-related injury or disease. It’s also the job of workers' compensation insurance to provide money so that your mechanical engineering firm’s employee doesn’t use personal funds for medication |
Rehabilitation | Workers’ compensation insurance will cover rehabilitation if your employee needs it to fully recover from a work-related injury or sickness. Specific expenses covered are therapist’s fees, rehabilitation equipment, and more |
Lost Income Compensation | A work-related injury or disease might end up with your employee not being able to come to work. The law requires you to cover lost income in such a situation. Workers' compensation insurance will take care of this responsibility for you by providing a weekly allowance for the injured or sick employee. This weekly allowance is equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage |
Death Benefits | Your mechanical engineering firm's employee might die because of a work-related accident or disease. Workers' compensation insurance also helps with this. In practice, this insurance will provide payments for funeral expenses and will give financial aid to the deceased’s dependents |
Understand that mechanical engineering is a very risky profession. State and federal agencies have recorded a lot of accidents resulting in death, impairment, and minor injuries. Here’s one example from the Occupational Safety and Health Organization.
Mechanical Engineer Commercial Property Insurance
Most engineering firms maintain a physical office where they keep valuable equipment, tools, documents, and other business assets. Commercial property insurance coverage for mechanical engineers protects your business's belongings against theft, disasters, fire, vandalism, etc. The policy will cover the cost of repair and replacement following an incident.
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| Building Destruction | Building Damage |
| Your office or warehouse might burn and turn into ashes. It’s also possible for extreme weather to tear them down, leaving only debris behind. In such events, commercial property insurance will see to it that your mechanical engineering firm won’t end to its demise by reimbursing losses based on the actual cash value or replacement cost of the destroyed office or warehouse | Your office or warehouse’s structures might incur damage due to theft, fire, vandalism, and other covered perils. Commercial property insurance also covers this by allowing you to recoup losses based on the replacement cost or actual cash value of damaged structures such as windows, signages, roofing, gutter, siding, etc. |
Decide to get stocks and contents coverage, and business equipment and tools coverage so that commercial property insurance provides enhanced protection for your mechanical engineering firm.
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| Stocks and Contents Coverage | Business Equipment and Tools Coverage |
| Inside your mechanical engineering firm’s office or warehouse are valuable items such as blueprints, materials, CCTV cameras, facility installations, and more. When these become damaged or lost due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils, stocks and contents coverage will reimburse your losses | Your mechanical engineering firm uses equipment or tools such 3D printers, digital force gauges, vibration isolators, personal protective equipment, etc. Business and tools coverage is an add-on to commercial property insurance that will reimburse losses if the items mentioned become lost or damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils |
Mechanical Engineer Commercial Auto Insurance
Traveling to project sites is part of a mechanical engineer's job description. This requires you to maintain a vehicle used for business purposes. Commercial auto insurance has the following coverages:
| Coverage | Function |
Auto Liability Coverage | Your mechanical engineering firm might cause a vehicular accident and inflict injuries to third-parties or damage someone’s property. When aggrieved parties file a claim, auto liability coverage kicks in to cover their medical expenses. Also, it will pay for attorney fees, administrative costs, court payment orders, and other legal expenses if the matter is taken to court. Note that auto liability coverage can’t help if your mechanical engineering firm’s commercial vehicle caused the accident due to a criminal activity |
Physical Damage Coverage | Commercial auto insurance for mechanical engineers has physical damage coverage. Physical damage coverage will cover the expenses for vehicle parts repair or replacement. It has two forms - collision and comprehensive. Comprehensive physical damage coverage will cover parts repair or replacement if your firm’s commercial vehicle was damaged by fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils. On the flip side, collision physical damage coverage will take care of parts repair or replacement if the commercial vehicle of your firm incurred damage after colliding with another vehicle or object |
Rental Reimbursement Coverage | Rental reimbursement coverage is available if you decide to add physical damage coverage to commercial auto insurance. So what does this do? When you need to rent a vehicle while your firm’s commercial vehicle is being repaired, rental reimbursement coverage will help you recoup all of the resulting expenses |
MedPay/Personal Injury Protection | MedPay and personal injury protection functions to protect the driver and passenger of your mechanical engineering firm’s vehicle during vehicular accidents. MedPay will cover the medical expenses of the driver and passengers. Personal injury protection does the same but also provides additional coverage for lost income compensation and after hospital visits. Additionally, in case of death, MedPay and personal injury protection cover funeral expenses |
What Commercial Vehicles Can You Insure Using Commercial Auto Insurance?
Your mechanical engineering firm can use commercial auto insurance as coverage for its cargo van, flatbed truck, and other vehicles. By the way, if you want to insure multiple vehicles, go for commercial fleet insurance. Commercial fleet insurance is just another type of commercial auto insurance that allows you to cover 2 - 15 vehicles under one insurance policy at reasonable rates.
Mechanical Engineer Business Owner's Policy
Business owner's policy bundles standard insurance policies such as general liability, business property, worker's compensation, and more into one affordable product. Most insurers offer this coverage at discounted rates to shield small businesses from the steep cost of business interruption.
Mechanical Engineer Cyber Liability Insurance
Technology is at the center of every engineering firm as it bolsters capability, efficiency, and productivity. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are getting bolder by the day and are actively crafting new ways to extort their victims. With cyberattacks becoming commonplace, cyber liability insurance coverage is a must. The policy covers the cost of lawsuits related to cyberattacks, ransomware, data breach, and service interruption. It also covers the cost of public relations.
Mechanical Engineer Employer’s Liability Insurance
An employee might sue your mechanical engineering firm for negligence after experiencing a work-related injury or disease. To protect yourself against this, get employer’s liability insurance that provides coverage for attorney fees, administrative costs, compensatory payments, and other legal expenses.
Before you get employer’s liability insurance, we suggest you check with the workers’ comp department of your state. Some states have workers comp laws that prohibit employees from suing employers whose business is covered by workers' compensation insurance. And if this is the case in yours, buying employer’s liability insurance isn’t crucial.
Mechanical Engineer Employment Practices Liability Insurance
Employer’s liability insurance doesn’t provide coverage if your employee files a claim for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, workplace discrimination, and other related offenses. These are covered by employment practices liability insurance instead. The coverage of employer’s liability insurance also includes attorney fees, compensatory payments, administrative costs, and other legal expenses.
