Why Industrial Design Services Need Insurance
Industrial design services solve problems by fixing or creating a new product to fulfill a need. No matter what design services you provide – automobile, furniture, hand tool, or building – you are important to our future.
Managing an industrial design services business comes with a list of responsibilities. One of your responsibilities is buying the right insurance, as it can be critical to protecting your business and assets from the risks you face every day.
Risks that industrial design services face include:
- Mistakes or Oversights on a Project: A great amount of detail goes into design projects, and occasionally something can go wrong. Maybe you inaccurately estimate the time it will take to complete a project or your designer misses an important safety consideration. In either case, customers can hold you liable for damages.
- Employee Theft or Crime: Industrial design services companies see plenty of innovative ideas and rely on employees to bring these to life. What happens when your employee steals an idea or design and shares it with a competitor?
- Electronic Data Loss: The majority of projects are designed on computers using specialty software. If these files are destroyed by a computer virus or fire, you have to start from square one. How do you cover the loss of income?
- Property Loss: Property losses extend to more than just your building. Think about the computers, equipment, and tools you use daily, what happens if they are stolen or destroyed in a fire?
- Hackers: Since the majority of your initial design work is completed on a computer, you risk having it stolen or compromised by hackers.
This is a limited list of risks you face, and some are more likely than others, depending on how you operate. If you don’t have the right insurance in place, you risk losing your business, your assets, and the reputation you’ve worked hard to build.
What Types of Coverage do You Need?
There are many insurance policies available for industrial design services companies. The specific services you offer impact which coverages you need to buy.
If you solely consult on design services and have no employees, you will likely need general, professional, and cyber liability. If you are more involved in the design steps, you still need these along with some additional policies.
- General Liability: Mainly pays medical expenses and costs associated with visitors injuring themselves (or their possessions) on your property or job site. It also includes coverage for electronic data loss in the event you experience lost income from destroyed files.
- Professional Liability: Also referred to Errors and Omissions (E&O) or design liability insurance. This pays for damages resulting from project oversights and mistakes you are held liable for.
- Crime: Protects you from expenses associated with theft of money or property.
- Commercial Property: Pays to rebuild or fix damage to your property including the building and its contents. Some property or business owner’s policies also include coverage for loss of business income which reimburses your expenses and lost revenue if you have to close temporarily.
- Cyber Liability: Pays expenses associated with cyber breaches including negotiating, notification, and lost income.
Cost of Insurance for Industrial Design Services
The cost of industrial design services insurance varies depending on the insurance carrier and a few additional business factors. How long have you been in business? Do you offer consulting services? What type of design services do you offer? A business that designs vehicles faces more risk than one that designs furniture. Request a quote for industrial design services insurance below and review your coverage options.