HouseMaster

For HouseMaster, the 2025 franchise disclosure document, Item 8, requires general liability at $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate including products and completed operations; commercial auto at a combined single limit up to $2,000,000, no less than $1,000,000; workers' compensation where state law requires it; errors and omissions at $500,000 per claim and $1,000,000 aggregate with prior-acts coverage and a three-year tail; and cyber liability at not less than $500,000. HouseMaster SPV LLC and its designated parties must be named additional insured with a waiver of subrogation, coverage must be primary and non-contributory, and the carrier must be rated A.M. Best A-VIII or better.

Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance covers financial loss a customer suffers because your professional findings or report were wrong or incomplete — the missed-defect claim. Home inspectors need it because general liability carries a professional services exclusion that removes exactly that loss. For a HouseMaster franchisee, E&O is the primary coverage, because the inspection report is the product and the report is what gets sued. The FDD requires it.

General liability covers accidents — physical injury or property damage you cause while present, like a foot through a ceiling. E&O covers professional judgment — a financial loss from a wrong or incomplete report, like a missed foundation issue. An inspection generates both on the same job: you are physically in the home, and you are issuing a report a buyer relies on. The FDD requires both because both exposures are real.

No. A missed defect is a professional error, not an accident, and general liability carries a professional services exclusion that removes it. The E&O policy answers that claim. This is why the HouseMaster FDD requires E&O as a core coverage rather than an option.

E&O is written claims-made, so it covers a claim only if the inspection happened after the policy's retroactive date and the claim is made while the policy is active. If a renewal resets the retroactive date, every earlier inspection becomes uncovered. HouseMaster requires prior-acts coverage to keep the retroactive date reaching back to your first inspection, plus a three-year tail after the agreement ends. Confirm the retroactive date has not moved on every renewal.

Not automatically. Many E&O policies carry a fungus, mold, or pollution exclusion that removes claims over missed environmental hazards unless the policy adds them back. Read your E&O for that exclusion, add environmental coverage by endorsement where needed, and scope your inspection agreement to make clear what the standard inspection assesses.

That is the central claim in this trade, and it is an E&O claim. Your E&O policy defends the report and pays a covered settlement up to your limit, while general liability would exclude it as a professional error. The size of your E&O limit is the size of your protection against this exact lawsuit, which is why many inspectors raise it above the $500,000 FDD minimum.

Many states license home inspectors and may require proof of E&O or general liability to hold the license, but the requirement varies widely by state. Your franchise insurance and your state inspector license are two separate obligations — confirm both with your state's licensing board and keep your E&O current, since a license lapse and an insurance lapse each create their own exposure.

A full HouseMaster program — general liability, the required E&O with prior acts, commercial auto, the required $500,000 cyber, and workers' compensation where it applies — commonly runs about $4,000 to $9,000 per year for a newer single-inspector operation, rising with added inspectors, higher E&O limits, and commercial-inspection work. E&O is usually the largest single line.

Your agent issues the certificate and adds the brokerage as additional insured where your policy and the account require it. Brokerage and referral accounts often require the additional-insured status on your E&O policy specifically, plus a waiver of subrogation and sometimes a higher E&O limit. The HouseMaster Referral Liability Protection Program lets you add referral parties to the E&O policy — confirm your E&O carrier supports it before you promise it to an account.