If:
- you,
- your spouse, or
- a corporation or other legal entity in which either of you either separately or together, directly or indirectly, have or may acquire a 10% beneficial interest or more in the property,
get sued for professional negligence, you will not have coverage (Exclusion 9 of the Indemnity Plan). This exclusion applies even if you have complied with your professional obligations under the Real Estate Council Rules for disclosure of your interest in the transaction. The exclusion is strictly applied.
If you are sued in relation to the purchase or sale of your own property, you will not only have to pay a judgment if you are found liable, you will also have to pay for your own lawyer to represent you. That can be very expensive and a major hassle, even if you are able to prove that the claim against you is unmerited.
The Indemnity Plan does provide that your brokerage may be covered for such a claim if the brokerage is brought into the suit against you (Insuring Agreement 3.6), but if a payment is made by E&O on behalf of the brokerage, then E&O has the right to recover from you what they had to pay out.
Any way you look at it, this will be a bad situation for you; it’s far better to have someone else act as the professional real estate advisor where you or your spouse are involved in a transaction in which you have or may acquire an ownership interest.
