Are limited liability partnerships really required to have insurance?
June 18, 2007
Absolutely yes! The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently concluded that individual LLP partners were personally liable on a commercial lease because the LLP failed to comply with the requirement that it carry insurance covering errors, omissions, negligence, incompetence, or malfeasance. (Edward B. Elmer, M.D., P.A. v. Santa Fe Properties, Inc., No. 04-05-00821-CV, 2006 WL 3612359 (Tex.App.--San Antonio Dec. 13, 2006, no pet. h.)). This decision was made despite the fact that one of the partners did have insurance. The court focused on the fact that the partnership itself was not a named insured under the policy. Thus, if you have an LLP, you need to make sure that the LLP is covered by a qualified policy. The individual partners will probably also want to be named on the policy too.
