update:
i spoke with several insurance people yesterday and we went over the nature of my business and how liability insurance would affect it.
2 types of liability; general and professional
general would cover my business and you if you came to my office for a meeting and you slipped on the icey sidewalk. things like this would have us covered. fortunately, operating on home occupancy, i have no clients coming to my 'office'. i have very little to zero exposure.
professional would cover me if there were errors in my drawings. fortunately, i do not have 'stamping' ability like an engineer or architect. my drawings are always stamped and reviewed by a certified engineer. floor, truss and beam design is always stamped by the manufacturers own engineer. a structural engineer stamps my drawings for such things as tall walls, lateral support, foundation and footings. the engineers alleviate me of any liability with their stamps. i have little to zero exposure.
so essentially, because engineers review and take responsibility for most, if not all my structural work, i have no liability when it comes to the structural integrity of a home i design.
general liability insurance cost would be about $600/yr. small cost if a occupied an office, which i don't.
professional liability insurance cost would be about $2500/yr. for a small company like mine (zero sales to date) and virtually zero exposure, this insurance is throwing money out the window.
thanks everybody for the advice and guidance. and to those who don't think you would work with a house designer with no liability insurance, i hope you reconsider and come to me for a quote
