Licensed professionals who are interested in the service known as Save My License can sign up via its Web site, www.SaveMyLicense.com.
A Maryland-based investment company recently launched a service that is designed to help licensed professionals – including real estate agents, appraisers and home inspectors – defend themselves and protect their licenses if a regulatory board takes action against them.
The service, Save My License, is a group of licensed professionals that offers members up to $100,000 in costs and legal defense fees. Members pay an annual fee, which starts at $49 and goes up depending on the level of coverage, for the license protection plan.
The plans offer protection levels of $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000. Plans also pay up to $5,000 in fines or restitution that a licensed professional is ordered to pay, explained Raymond Miller, president of Save My License.
While many real estate brokers and inspectors have insurance to cover errors-and-omissions claims, most policies do not protect against complaints or inquiries that stem from a licensing board, according to Miller.
“There’s nothing like this that exists anywhere in the country,” he said.
In Connecticut, real estate brokers are required to carry errors-and-omissions insurance. Most large- to mid-sized companies also carry liability insurance for their offices, according to Mark Foreman, president of the Connecticut Association of Realtors and founder of Cornerstone Capital Mortgage in Fairfield.
Some insurers provide limited coverage for legal assistance for hearings or inquiries that arise from licensing and regulatory boards. Miller said a researcher that his firm hired looked at nine different insurance policies that are commonly used by real estate agents and the most coverage they provide for license defense is $2,500 to $5,000.
But a real estate agent who pays $99 to be a member of Save My License can get $25,000 worth of coverage, Miller said. And, unlike insurance companies that assign attorneys to cases, Save My License members can choose their own attorneys.
“We have a network of over 500 law firms, but members can also select their own lawyers,” said Miller.
The idea for Save My License emerged more than four years ago. Miller, who has 16 years of experience in risk management and has done work for Goldman Sachs and American Financial Group, said he came up with the concept because he has seen friends and other licensed professionals who have had to fight frivolous complaints brought before regulatory boards. One of Miller’s friends, a medical doctor, lost his license because he didn’t have the resources to defend himself.
“Even a nuisance or frivolous type of complaint from a consumer to the licensing board could cost someone $10,000 to $15,000 in legal fees,” said Miller.
When action is taken against a professional’s license, “you need financial resources, and you need legal representation, and you need it on short notice,” he said.
‘A Better Job’
Action also was taken against almost two-dozen home inspectors in Massachusetts during the last fiscal year. The state has 518 licensed inspectors. The Board of Registration of Home Inspectors, which received 52 complaints, revoked two licenses, suspended four and put five inspectors on probation, Borstel said. The board also issued nine fines totaling $18,100.
The concept for Save My License was tested several years ago with about 15,000 veterinarians throughout the country, said Miller. The testing was done through a professional group for veterinarians. After the testing, the entire business model was revamped and it was decided not to market and sell the service through professional associations and trade groups.
“We felt we could do a better job and do it cheaper by selling directly to people,” Miller said.
The site for the service, www.SaveMyLicense.com, was launched about a week-and-a-half ago. About 500 unique visits to the site were recorded during the first week and 10 percent of those visitors ended becoming a member of Save My License, according to Miller.
Miller said the service is garnering national attention. He has been interviewed by Realtor magazine, a publication of the National Association of Realtors.
Save My License is owned and operated by an institutional holding and investment company, SML Holding Corp., which is registered in every U.S. state. Licensed professionals who are interested in the service can sign up online through www.SaveMyLicense.com.
