Research Consultants Insurance | ProfessionalsCoverage.ca

Going into business for yourself is no doubt exciting. This is especially true when you are doing something that you truly love and care about. This is the way that most research consultants feel about their job. They get to delve deep into the world of the undiscovered and provide data, insight, and advice on specific topics. Not only is this exciting because you are learning new and exciting things about your passions, but you are actually helping someone in the process with these findings. You’ll use this research to provide detailed reports that will help guide businesses in making decisions. The only problem is that sometimes things don’t always go the way you want.

Just because you do research and analyze the market, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be able to give the best advice. What if you sway a company in making a certain decision and it leads them down the wrong path? What if you missed just a tad bit of crucial information that could have swayed the decision in a different direction, resulting in a positive outcome? Either way, customers aren’t going to be happy when they lose money.

Some might even come after your company seeking compensation for the losses. Could you afford to pay for the costs out of pocket? Does your company have the money stowed away to fight such claims? The answer to both questions is likely no, which would only spell disaster for your company. Luckily, you won’t have to worry about having money in place when you have the right insurance policies. And, this is just one instance where consulting insurance coverage can come in handy.

The Types Of Insurance Research Consultants Need

Research consultants are exposed to a wide range of risks on any given single day. Unfortunately, there is no one solution that will protect against all these risks. This is why it is imperative to work with an insurance provider that can help you devise an insurance package with multiple policies that can protect against all possible situations. ProfessionalsCoverage is one firm that works with research consultants on a daily basis, so they know exactly what risks you need to safeguard against and which ones are a waste of time.

The scenario from the opening paragraphs is just one of the situations where insurance policies come in handy. There are tons of other risks that you and your company and employees will face on a daily basis. Heck, you’ll be at risk from your employees. This is why it is important to understand the policies available to you and who you can use them to protect your business to the fullest. What policies are these and how can they protect you?

Workers’ Compensation Protection

Business insurance is by no means easy to understand or simple, and that is exactly why we’ll start with one of the simpler plans. At some point, you’ll likely have to bring on employees. Each employee you bring on, you’ll have to protect against physical harm. It is your job as the employer to provide all your workers with a safe working environment. While this is nearly impossible in all situations, workers’ comp will provide the relief and protection that you and your employees need in case something does go wrong.

Just say one of your employees is injured during a research project. Injured to the point where he or she will be out of work for the next 6 months. Could you pay his or her wages out of pocket? Maybe, but what about the medical costs and rehab? What if that employee wants to sue? These are all situations where workers’ comp will provide the financial relief and protection that you need. It’ll cover medical expenses, rehab, mental anguishes, as well as any related court costs if the employee wants to sue, which is always a real potential.

General Liability Protection

General liability is a bit more complex, but that’s only because a lot of research consultants don’t see how or where it applies to them. As a research consultant, you’ll likely be doing a great deal of work on the customer’s property or place of business. You might be conducting experiments on their property. You might be there delivering presentations. Whatever the situation, there is always the chance that you could damage their property or harm the customer. How, you might ask? Well, what if you borrow a projector or computer for an on-site presentation and ruin it? What if you leave a laptop out and a customer gets cut on it somehow and ends up needing stitches?

Don’t think it’s possible? Don’t think it’ll happen to you. It has happened before and it is more than likely to happen to you. General liability insurance will protect you in these situations. It’ll cover the medical costs, property damage, and any court-related costs if the customer wants to take the case t court. You might not think this policy applies to your firm, but you had better think twice if you find yourself working from the customer’s place of business.

Business Owner’s Policy Protection

Business owner’s policy insurance really is another simple one at heart. In fact, it is basically nothing more than general liability insurance for your physical retail outlet. While you’ll be working a lot off-site, it is not uncommon for many research consultant to have their own offices. Regardless of the size of the office, you’ll be exposed to certain risks every time someone steps foot on that property.

Business owner’s policy insurance will protect you in these instances. It’ll cover the medical costs with any physically-related incidents, it covers property damage if a customer’s property gets damaged while on your site, and it’ll cover all court-related costs in the event that someone tries to sue over these incidents. Something as simple as a mailman slipping on ice and breaking his or her arm could result in the closing of your business. That is, of course, without a business owner’s insurance policy in place. With this type of policy, this is something that you won’t have to stew over.

Professional Liability Protection

Regardless of the policies above, it is professional liability insurance that is without a doubt the most important. This insurance is pertinent for any research consultant. You can look at it any way you want, but at the end of the day, your job is nothing more than a glorified advice giver. You might be doing in-depth market studies, research, and analysis, but you are giving advice as to how your customers should proceed with this information. Whether you give advice or not, it is entirely possible that you could make an oversight in your research. Maybe you are negligent without meaning to be.

No one is perfect, regardless of the precautions they take. And, this is where professional liability insurance comes in handy. It’ll provide compensation for any financial losses that your customer’s face due to oversight or negligence on your part. Even if you aren’t at fault and things just turn out differently than you thought, this type of coverage will protect you. It’ll not only cover any financial losses of the incident, but it’ll cover any court-related expenses in the client wants to take the case to court.

People are so quick to sue these days, and even the slightest lawsuit could get tied up in the court system for years. In these events, you’ll likely face thousands of dollars in fees and fines every time your attorney steps foot in the courthouse. These kinds of charges could cripple even the wealthiest of companies. Luckily, your business won’t have to worry about these kinds of risks when you invest in professional liability insurance. As you can see, professional liability insurance is one of the most important policies that a research consultant could have.

How Much Does This Coverage Cost?

It doesn’t take much to see the importance of these types of policies. After reading the above information, you are probably already likely on the verge of calling up ProfessionalsCoverage and investing right away. However, in order to do so, you’ll need to know the costs. This is is where things get really tricky. The costs of these policies will vary depending on the type of provider you choose as well as the policies you choose. Not only this, but each individual provider is likely to set their own parameters as to how they’ll rate your risk and rates.

For instance, if you’ve only been in business for 1 or two years, it might be hard for you to even get coverage. And, if you do, you’ll likely pay more. Some insurance providers might charge you more based on the types of companies you do business with. ProfessionalsCoverage sometimes looks at the total revenue that you bring in each year. The more revenue, the bigger the risk you are, which will only result in the increased cost of coverage. Knowing these things ahead of time can help you prepare for the varying costs that you’ll face when getting quotes.

Need coverage for a project? Compare your rate and lock it!

Other Types of Consulting Businesses we insure:

If your specializing is not mentioned below, have no worries. Our insurance markets can provide liability coverage for the majority of consulting businesses.