huangyhg

insurance
i was curious how many engineers carry "errors and omissions" insurance when doing consulting work on the side, not as their main source of income, i.e. "moonlighting"
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ag89:
your question will certainly get a rise out of every engineer employer who sees it. here are a few comments:
1. "moonlighting" is a curse word for virtually all engineering employers because, in essence you are competing with your own daytime job. you have less overhead, no insurance and generally can't charge what the work is really worth, hence the reason so many people ask you to moonlight! but, as a moonlighter, you are also a potential liability to your employer. in any litigation, the attorneys (god bless the sob's) go after the deep pockets. your employer would likely have to prove he had no involvement in the moonlighting; that means equipement, office, tools - everything whether he approved their use or not! what many of the employers won't tell you is that moonlighting is how they got started!
2. i doubt that any insurance company would cover someone moonlighting. you can't generate enough work to cover the cost of insurance but, your potential liabilty is much higher than a regular engineering firm, ie, you have no financial backing to cover any mistake or miss-step. you are totally on your own.
3. did i moonlight? yes, in a field that did not compete with my daytime job. it was also an field that most engineers in my area didn't want to bother with. was my employer upset? yes! he felt it took away my attention from the 60 hours a week he had me working for him! the reason i did it was two fold: a) as a young family man i needed the extra money and b) i need the challange of the engineering work. i worked for a contractor so, any engineering work was not in competition with my daytime job. did i have insurance no but, i made darn sure i didn't make any mistakes!
let's see what the others in this forum have to say.

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