You may be asking: Who needs interior designers' insurance?
You do; if your work involves:
Assisting clients with design services.
Working with contractors and subcontractors.
Designing areas without 24-hour supervision.
Displaying at tradeshows.
Receiving goods for clients.
Ordering for clients.
Pen-Ex, a Villanova Insurance Partners Company, has created a policy specially designed for interior designers named “DSA Insure.”
"Insurance protects you, your business, and your family assets. Interior designers who assist clients in making their indoor spaces safe, more functional, and aesthetically pleasing should have professional and general liability insurance.
Insurance will raise your professional status. Display your insurance logo to set your services apart from your competitors. Clients will feel secure knowing that your business carries insurance.
Working with Nova Insurance through the DSA Insure program has been a simple and affordable way to get the coverage I need for my interior design process. The entire application and approval process was smooth sailing. Their team is not only professional but also incredibly understanding of the unique needs of the interior design industry. They made sure I got the coverage I needed without drowning me in complicated paperwork.
Affordability is another standout feature. As a small business owner, I'm always conscious of my budget, and DSA Insure didn't break the bank. They tailored a plan that not only covered all the essentials for my design studio but also came with a price tag that didn't give me heart palpitations.
In the world of insurance, where the terms and conditions can feel like a foreign language, DSA Insure stands out as a beacon of clarity and reliability. If you're looking for an insurance partner that makes things easy, affordable, and genuinely cares about your business, DSA Insure is the way to go."
Amanda Arcone DSA Member RIDE Certified
New England Home & Interiors
DSA members now have access to their very own Insurance and Risk Management Program – DSAinsure.
We have partnered with one of the leaders in small business insurance, Pen-Ex Insurance Brokers & Villanova Insurance Partners, to create the very best program to keep your business and assets safe. Here is the best part…. There is no third-party insurance carrier involved!
We do everything in one house from, rate, quote, bind, issue, and settle claims- the same person selling you the insurance is the same company settling the claims.
The DSAinsure program starts with a good Risk Management Program. What is Risk Management? It's using tools to prevent you from having a loss or claim. We do this through the following methods:
Provide you with a service contract (or our legal team will review your current one)
Any business performing a service should have a professional service agreement completed and signed before starting work for your client. Interior Designers, with the various and unique work they perform, are especially open to the potential of arguments arising out of their completed work. Our specifically tailored service contract for Interior Designers contemplates the key components for laying out the scope of work to be performed, what won't be performed, the cost of the work to be completed, start and end dates, and much, much more. This agreement will also have the proper defenses that are afforded to you, as the contractor, per your state guidelines- essentially, we take all the guessing out of this for you.
Provide you with a Sub-Contractor Agreement
As an Interior Designer, you may be bringing other contractors on to the job for which you are responsible for as the General Contractor. In these scenarios, you need to be armed with the knowledge of how this relationship works from an insurance and claims perspective. Moreover, you need to have the proper legal agreement between you and anyone you bring on the job- this is done with our specially tailored, Interior Designer, subcontractor agreement. Without this document or the indemnity it affords, you could be open to claims arising from businesses and their employees that you bring to the job. We taking the guessing out of this relationship with our specially tailored, sub-contractor agreement.
Provide you with Pre-Claims Assistance
We provide a Pre-Claims Assistance hotline direct to my team of lawyers, adjusters, and risk managers, should you feel a claim is on the horizon. Through quick and immediate intervention, we can help you navigate the important early steps of the claim process.
Business Owners Policy - to protect you from a first, or third-party property loss, or a third-party bodily injury due to your negligence
This Policy will cover two parts:
Part 1: Property (yours):
If you should have a loss of your business property (i.e. Desk, chairs, computers, tools) you will be indemnified for the cost to replace these items.
Part 2: General Liability:
(loss to a third party, of either, property or bodily injury):
Should someone be injured, or their property damaged, due to your actions or negligence, general liability will cover your defense, the associated medical cost to the injured, and any monies awarded to the injured due to losing a lawsuit.
In Addition to your Business Owner's Policy, you will receive DSAinsure's signature Bonus:
Professional Liability Policy –
THIS ADDITION IS NOT AVAILABLE ANYWHERE IN THE INDUSTRY!
The Professional Liability is a "third addition" unique to DSAInsure, customized for the interior design industry.
To protect you from a claim arising from a third party's financial loss due to error or negligence in your professional services.
Interior designers provide professional services. If you're sued, not because of bodily injury, but because of a failure in your professional capacity, general liability policies (BOP) won't cover you. Professional liability, for the most part, covers financial loss to a third party (other than a contingent bodily injury some PL policies contain). If you give bad advice and recommend a floor that's easily damaged, your general liability policy wouldn't cover resulting in legal costs if you're sued by the homeowner.
Designers could be sued for:
Projects that go over budget
Advice that doesn't work out
Mistakes in measuring that add additional costs
Failing to complete a project on time or on budget
Professional liability insurance pays for legal defense costs and any judgments or settlements arising out of lawsuits from professional misconduct, errors, and omissions. Because there's the potential for any designer to make mistakes, essentially all decorators and interior designers need this type of coverage.
Begin the application process. Someone from DSAinsure will be in touch within 24-hours with a quote for insurance and risk management today!
