Why Home Inspectors Need Errors and Omissions Insurance

Errors and omissions insurance should be a key component of every home inspector’s portfolio which no professional home inspectors can't work without.

Professional home inspectors can't work without errors and omissions insurance because it's extremely risky. Here’s why this insurance should be a key component of every inspector’s portfolio.

Home inspector scenario

A home inspector is called to a residence to perform a thorough inspection as part of preparations to sell the house. He goes through an exhaustive checklist, making notes where necessary. He’s found several areas within the home that need repair and a few items that need replacing. He signs off, gets paid, and leaves the residence.

The house is sold. A month later, during a storm, a moderate-size branch breaks off from a tree and lands on the corner of the roof, caving it in. An investigation determines that a number of boards in that section of the attic were rotted – and that the rot clearly began long before the new owners moved in a month ago.

So what happened?

The inspector failed to traipse through to the far corner of the attic during his inspection. All the attic boards he did examine looked fine, with no signs of leaking or rotting. This is called an error, and guesses who might be held responsible?

If the inspector is not carrying errors and omissions insurance – usually referred to as e and o insurance – he could be held liable for the cost of repairing the roof and any other related damage.

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