Ontario-Professional-Liability-Insurance

Translator Insurance – Non-Technical

Why A Non-Technical Translator Needs Insurance Coverage

Do you have a way with words? Love meeting new people, exploring new situations, and explaining things to people in a way that they can understand? Maybe you just have an in-depth understanding of words, letters, and sentences that others simply don’t understand. If this is the case, it sounds like being a translator might be right up your alley. While this isn’t a profession for everyone, it can be an exciting and fruitful opportunity for the right individual. The only problem is all the inherent risks that come along with the profession. That’s right, I think being a translator is a cushy, office job that’ll keep you indoors most of the time.

It might be cushy and it might likely keep you inside most of the time, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t risky. It is so risky that something as simple as the wrong word or interpretation could lead to the closing of your business. Don’t think it can happen to you? Well, it’s happened to other translators. Just do your research and you’ll see that a number of translators have gotten sued because of some of the simplest misunderstandings. Whatever the situation, this is something you’ll want to avoid as a professional translator. And one of the best ways to do exactly this is by investing in the right insurance policies.

 

What Exactly Is a Non-Technical Translator

When most people think of a translator or an interrupter, they don’t really know what to think of. Of course, the word itself is pretty self-apparent. A translator is someone who translates or interrupts words and sentences for other individuals. Whether it is that they are having a hard time understanding what is being said or they speak an entirely different language, there are a number of situations where these professionals come in handy. Think of an interpreter or translator as a bilingual or multilingual professional, capable of translating verbal or written communications from one language to another. This could even include sign language.

All that being said, a translator is not someone who is always hired by a single individual. There are times when corporations, government entities, lawyers, and even medical professionals need to translate conversations. Just think of those translators that stand up there with those famous fighters, translating sentences, words, and phrases for them. They get just as much recognition as most of the fighters. An, it’s highly likely that they are making good money as well.

While a non-technical translator will be a more laid back profession, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t some risks associated with the profession as well. In fact, there are more than one might imagine.

 

Potential Risks Associated With The Profession

While there are tons of specific insurance policies available for translating professionals, you certainly don’t want to go out and invest in every policy available. Not only would this be completely impractical, but it would be expensive. Heck, a small, single translating professional likely wouldn’t be able to support himself and his business doing so. That being said, the best way to understand the policies that you and your business specifically need is by understanding your specific risks.

 

Here are some things that you might want to keep in mind when assessing your potential risks:

There are certain words, phrases, and sentences that might not even be available in the language that they are being translated to. For instance, get her done might not be a phrase that’s available in Spanish. The word for home or house might not even be available in another language.

Sometimes there are certain words that have multiple meanings. It’s likely that you’ve already experienced this in the language that you are fluent in. Just take the world wicked or bad for example. Some individuals might say that is wicked cool or he is wicked. The word has two different meanings and not used in the right situation under the right circumstances could result in a complete misunderstanding.

Another similar situation is a word that may have an innocuous meaning in one culture but might take on a derogatory meaning in a different language. Curse words are the perfect examples in these situations. While there are some words in the English language that are completely harmless, they mean terrible things in other languages.

With all the above in mind, these are just examples of where translations could result in misunderstanding or potential lawsuits. There are also physical risks as well as others associated with the profession. What if you have a client over at your office or place of business and he or she slips and falls? Maybe something breaks off a street lamp and crushes their windshield. What do you think would happen in these situations? The customer would likely look to you for compensation. Could you afford this out of pocket, completely unexpected? Most smaller translators couldn’t!

 

Understanding The Policies That Will Protect You

Now that you have a better understanding of some of the potential risks that your translation business faces, it’s important to know how you can safeguard against these risks. While there are tons of policies available and some might seem like they offer protection in these situations, they might not be exactly what you are looking for. The best way to know for sure is to make sure you completely understand the policies available to you.

 

Commercial General Liability Insurance

When it comes to coverage for lawsuits related to third-party bodily injury or property damage, you won’t find any better solution than commercial general liability insurance. That’s exactly what this policy was designed for and that’s the exact situations that it protects in. This type of policy will cover you, your business, and your employees in the event that they damage the customer’s property or the customer themselves. This policy will even cover you, your business, and your employees if you or they are accused of false advertising, slander, or defamation.

This type of coverage will not only cover the expenses related to the incident, but it’ll likely cover any court-related expenses as well. If the customer wants to sue, the policy will offer the financial protection that you need.

 

Professional Liability Insurance

Of all the risks that you face as a translator, it is the impact that an oversight or error can have on your client. Just imagine if you were hired to translate a medical diagnosis for a customer and you ended up telling them that they have a horrible disease when they didn’t. Or, worse yet, what if you told them they didn’t have anything wrong with them when they needed medical treatment. Medical treatment that could have potentially saved their life 6 months down the road.

As you can imagine, either situation will likely result in a lengthy, long, and drawn-out lawsuit. A lawsuit that might end up causing you to close up shop. This is where translator professional liability insurance comes into play. Similar to that of errors and omissions insurance coverage, this insurance will offer protection when you might have errors or oversights.

 

Insurance For Home-Based Translation Businesses

With COVID and the current circumstances of the world today, a lot of translators are choosing to open home-based translation services. And with all the technology available today, this is something that’s entirely possible. Thanks to Cloud, FaceTime, and other similar video conferencing technologies, people can translate right from their homes or offices. Just because you choose to operate in this manner, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t need coverage. In fact, you might end up needing more coverage.

Regardless, you want to make sure that you, your business, and your employees are protected to the fullest.

 

Endorse Your Homeowners Insurance Policy

Some translators might not be aware of it, but it’s entirely possible to upgrade your current homeowner’s policy to cover your new home-based translation business as well. That’s right, you’ll not only get to keep the same provider, but you’ll likely save yourself a little bit of money by bundling. How does this work and what exactly does it mean? Independent translators can choose to add what is known as an endorsement to their current homeowner’s insurance policy.

This will provide more coverage for the home-based business or home office. This is an excellent option that someone with a lot of valuable equipment or business-related visitors will want to consider. Some providers will offer anywhere from $2,000 to $2,5000 in business equipment coverage as well as additional liability protection at an affordable rate. It really depends on the area as well as the insurance provider.

 

In-Home Business/ Home Office Insurance

There are even some providers in specific parts of the world that are willing to offer what is known as a specialty policy. The specialty policy usually covers in-home businesses or home offices. Unfortunately, it really is only a viable option for larger firms, but it does provide nearly $10,000 worth of business property coverage with a liability limit coverage of anywhere between $300,000 and $1 million. While this might seem like a lot of unnecessary coverage, it won’t take long for the expenses to start piling on.

Some of these policies will even offer limited coverage for valuable documents, accounts receivable, off-site business property, and use of specific equipment.

 

Business Owners Policy

Whether you are thinking of opening an in-home translation business or not, it’s highly likely that you’ve heard of the business owner’s policy. It’s a type of coverage that is commonly known and talked about throughout the insurance world. However, there are some misunderstandings and misconceptions related to the policy. Some individuals think that it offers specific protection when it actually doesn’t. What you really need to know is, if you need more than $10,000 worth of property coverage as well as liability coverage for customer injuries and business interruptions, this is a good policy for your business.

 

Afterthought With Other Policies

When it comes to insurance, you can never be too careful. While you don’t want to be paying thousands of dollars for insurance you’ll never use, you do want to make sure that your business is protected to the fullest by the fullest possible limits. Some other policies that one will want to consider for their new translation business are:

 

Disability Insurance

You biggest asset in life is your earning ability. If you are unable to work, you will need to rely on either your savings or borrow money to sustain your lifestyle. When these unfortunate circumstances occur, dependents and spouses are also impacted financially and emotionally.

Disability insurance coverage will provide you a monthly income benefit, usually totaling 70% to 80% of your income, when you are unable to work for a period of time due to injury or illness.

Types of disability insurance

 

 

 

 

 

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FAQ before purchasing liability insurance

 

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