“6. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY AND DAMAGES. We assume no liability for the cost of repair or replacement of unreported defects, either current or
arising in the future. In all cases, our liability is limited to liquidated damages in an amount not greater than 1.5 times the fee you paid us. You waive any
claim for consequential, exemplary, special or incidental damages or for the loss of the use of the home/building. You acknowledge that this liquidated
damages is not a penalty, but that we intend it to: (i) reflect the fact that actual damages may be difficult or impractical to ascertain; (ii) allocate risk between
us; and (iii) enable us to perform the inspection for the agreed-upon fee. If you wish to eliminate this liquidated damages provision, we are willing to perform
the inspection for an increased fee of $______, payable in advance”
What does this actually mean? Do I have to include the last sentence?
Check the latest agreement for your state. I believe that sentence has been removed. At least it has for the MN agreement.
Basically it meant you would agree to not limit your liability in exchange for an increased inspection fee. Many inspectors set the fee equivalent to their insurance deductible, or more.
Here is the explanation.
Many judges have said that the limit of liability imposed by the inspector/ inspection company is arbitrarily biased in the inspector’s favour. The offer to remove the limit is an opportunity for the client to negotiate a limit of liability. This came about following a seminar presented by Joe Ferry, a lawyer associated with interNACHI.
Hope this helps, however the comments above are the best course of action for you Randall
Cheers