What Activities Are Included in Residential Real Estate Sales?

Residential Sales Agents, Sales Associates & Licensed Estate Agents sell private properties, facilitating real estate transactions. Their day-to-day duties involve conducting appraisals, open homes & inspections, marketing & listings properties and managing contracts. Dealing with significant assets & charging fees for services, it is imperative that accredited agents obtain comprehensive insurances to cover them from potential risks.

What Insurance Cover Do I Need?

Real estate agents can be held liable for the advice or the services they perform; as this is a core offering of their business you are potentially vulnerable to allegations of negligent acts or omissions. Professional Indemnity (PI) provides protection against claims arising from breach of professional duty. This is one example of highly valuable insurance that is necessary for your occupation.

In addition to Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance it is recommended to have Public Liability (PL) insurance to cover the legal liability to third parties for damage arising as the result of an occurrence in connection with the insured’s business or premises against bodily injury or property damage.

For business owners, running a real estate agency there are additional requirements to consider for your insurance needs; don’t leave your company vulnerable for the actions & advice provided by the agents & managers within your business. Let RealPI do the hard work for you, we possess a comprehensive knowledge of the real estate industry, combined with years of insurance experience we can tailor make packages to suit your role & responsibilities.

Cyber Insurance is also recommended to protect your business from the financial impact of computer hacking or a data breach. If your business has a website or electronic records, you’re vulnerable to cyber hackers.

Management Liability is also recommended if your agency has employees or contractors. Management Liability can protect Directors and Officers for legal liability they may incur personally in managing a corporation, it also extends to the corporation itself for certain types of claims. It can also include Employment Practices Liability Insurance which covers a range of liabilities that an employer may face following wrongful termination, refusal to employ, failure to promote, demotion, disciplinary action, sexual harassment, discrimination or defamation of an employee.

Claim Example

The purchaser issued proceedings in VCAT against the vendor and our agent insured. The main allegations against the Insured is that they allegedly represented to the purchaser that the auction was not conducted on a GST exclusive nature and the purchaser was led to believe that he did not have to pay an additional sum of $48,000.

The claim settled out of court for $48,000. The Insured’s contribution was $30,000. The legal costs incurred were $10,000. Both the legal costs and the insured’s contribution were covered by the policy.