Whether you’re running your own Notary Public business or you’re working for a certified employer, you’re likely to need Notary Public insurance. Although Notary Public insurance is an additional expense, it’s one of the smartest expenses you can pay for.
Regardless of your financial situation, an extra expense is always something that needs to be heavily considered, though not required by law, Notary Public insurance is one of the wisest business decisions you can make for yourself and for your Notary Public career.
At BizInsure, we care about giving you all the facts you need to make an informed, intelligent decision for you and for your business. That’s why we’ve taken the time to explain Notary Public insurance thoroughly with you in order to help you better understand what it is, why you might need it, and what it may cost you.
We’ve included some of the basic information on Notary Public Liability Insurance here to help answer your notary public insurance questions.
What is Notary Public Liability Insurance?
Maybe you’re not entirely sure what Notary Public Liability Insurance is, and that’s reasonable, as it doesn’t always come with the territory of just being a Notary Public. On top of all of the responsibilities that go hand-in-hand with working as a Notary Public, it’s not uncommon for Notary Public Liability Insurance to slip through the cracks.
Often called Professional Liability insurance, or Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance, this type of insurance is critical for any Notary Public, or anyone who is providing advice or instruction to other people. This type of policy helps to protect you from legal persecution if you’re a coach, training professional, or other types of advice-giver. You’re shielded from damages related to your services, your actions, or your recommendations.
This type of policy can extend to cover employees and independent contractors from legitimate accusations, but also from allegations of failure to perform, bad advice, negligence, or other risks that go hand-in-hand with the nature of the business.
Why Do I Need Notary Public Liability Insurance?
If you are under the impression that because you work for a company or an employer you’re automatically covered, you may want to check again.
Regardless of who you’re working for or with, odds are, if you don’t have Notary Public Liability insurance or E&O, you’re going to need it – even if you never have an actual claim filed against you.
Consider a situation in which you’ve been accused of negligence or misrepresentation. It may be an unrealistic claim that’s not true, but that doesn’t change the fact that the claim needs to be investigated. Litigation is expensive. It deflates your resources, your time, and even your reputation. This is where Professional Liability insurance can protect you, and your reputation, from taking a serious beating and from financial damages that might be much too hard to bounce back from.
Notary Publics insurance is there to provide financial protection for:
- Legal costs and expenses like attorney fees
- The costs and expenses related to settlement, judgement and other unexpected expenses
There are few common misconceptions which Notary Publics are often faced with, starting with thinking that notary bonds will protect them. These state-required bonds help, but they definitely don’t provide the cover and protection like that of a Notary Public Liability insurance policy does (mostly because you have to pay them back). Other common misconceptions are things like Notary Publics can’t be held personally or financially responsible and that alleged claims don’t matter
How Much Does It Really Cost?
Now that you understand why you need insurance, what it is, and how it can benefit you, the value of protecting yourself and your business starts to become one smart investment.
While we can’t sit here and give you the exact cost will be for your policy (that’s why we have agents to help tailor your quote to you), we can give you a few factors that are going to affect the cost of your insurance quotes.
For starters, we’ll take a look at how big your company is and where your business is located. The number of employees you have, the amount of revenue you’re raking in, these things all play into the risk factor for lawsuit frequency.
We’ll also look at factors such as if you’re running a company and you’re requesting a quote on E&O, we’ll need to understand how you train your employees. Your employees can get you into trouble (another reason to have the insurance protection you need!), so the way they’re trained, their reliability, and their errors in the past are going to impact the cost of your premium.
Other factors we will need to consider include:
- Do you have specific quality control procedures?
- Have you ever had legal trouble in the past?
- What are the odds of your employees (or you) being sued for your work?
Related: How much does Notary Insurance Cost?
All of these things matter when it comes to pricing out your insurance!
There are so many factors to consider when putting a price on insurance, but, on average, we’ve found that the yearly cost of Professional liability insurance for a small business is about $767.24. At a yearly median cost, this is $600. However, about a third of small business owners will pay less than $600 yearly for their professional liability insurance coverage. In fact, about 55.7 per cent of businesses we work with pay less than $51 monthly for their insurance, followed by about 33.4 per cent of businesses who only pay $51 to a max of $100 monthly.
Compare that to a state-required notary bond for a moment (mind you, you’ll have to pay some of this back) coming in at $500, $1,000, $5,000 or even $10,000. That’s quite a bit of money for a fraction of the protection that Notary Liability Insurance can give you.
Get a better understanding as to what a Notary Publics insurance policy may cost you by getting in touch with one of our specialist insurance agents today. The good news? Talking to us is free – you’ll get a free quote from multiple A-rated insurers when you choose to check us out! We provide instant quotes to get you the rates that make the most sense for what you’re all about!
Our Final Thoughts: Why Notary Public Liability Insurance Matters
It’s clear to see after we’ve gone through the details why Notary Public Liability insurance matters. Not only does it protect you from significant costs if you deal with legal issues, but it also protects your financials and your reputation in the long run.
While there are dozens of factors that go into setting a price on your company’s policy, we’ll take a look at the important factors like your individual claim’s history, the individual is covered (are they qualified? Do they have previous claims?), the general size of your business and staff (the more people you have involved, the higher the risk, typically), and your company’s turnover rates.
As we said, on average, our clients are paying about $767.24 yearly for insurance with us. That’s a median cost of about $600. Reach out to BizInsure for your unique, accurate, and reliable quote! It’s free to chat and there’s no obligation to work with us.
