As I was researching more E&O coverage, I spoke to an insurance rep from a national company. He suggested that I think about all the possibilities of lawsuits before I balked at the high costs of more coverage. He gave me a list of scenarios that have actually happened while his clients were at private homes offering services. Including: accidentally breaking a Ming Dynasty vase, shorting out the electrical system by plugging in a lap top, accidentally letting a $10,000 prize winning show dog out- never to be found again, scratching the 250 year old antique dining room table with a pen, leaving oil on the driveway, and so on. According to the agent, service providers (including notaries) have actually been sued for these kinds of mishaps.
Then he went on to explain how the policy covers "bodily injury." As if notaries go into homes to facilitate loan signings- and cause bodily injury? I told him that I think I need bodily injury protection from borrowers- not the other way around.
One signing I had was way out in the country with not a single light for miles. The borrower did not have a light on the front or back of his house- I couldn't see my hand in front of my face! I used my cell phone and a Bic lighter to find my way to my car- tripping and stumbling on junk, bushes and what ever else was underfoot. During another signing, the borrower's huge, scary, mastiff growled at me through out the signing. Not to mention, I sometimes worry about "Buffalo Bob" grabbing me - and throwing me in a pit with a poodle!
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