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FAQs - Professional Indemnity
When considering the limit you should carefully consider how much you could be sued for. The questions you may want to consider are what is the size of the project/total contract value? What is your level of responsibility on the project as a whole? Does the limit of indemnity meet your regulatory bodies' requirements and/or what your contractors/clients require you to have?
What limit of indemnity should I buy?
The retroactive date sets out how long before the inception of the policy that you will be covered for negligent acts, errors or omissions. Professional indemnity is written on a claim's made basis which means you are covered for claims brought against you during the policy period. For example, if your retro-active date is 01.01.2010 and a claim is made against you during the 2013-2014 policy year for work carried in 2010, you would be covered. If your retro date is stated as 'none', this is the widest form of cover as it effectively means that all past work is covered.
This relates to the level of cover you have and how much money your insurer will pay out in the event of a claim. If you have a £1m limit of indemnity (aggregate), this is the maximum amount which your insurer will ever pay for all claims made against you during the policy period. If you exceed this limit, you will have to pay the remainder. If the basis of the limit is any one claim then regardless of how many claims you make, you have a £1M limit of indemnity per claimant. As you can see, any one claim will give you more protection and there is far less chance of running out of insurance. It is also worth checking if the limit of indemnity is inclusive or exclusive of defence costs. If your limit of indemnity states any one claim excluding defence costs, this means you will not have to pay an excess in relation to any legal defence costs which you may incur. If the defence costs exceed the limit of indemnity, they will also be paid in addition.
What is the difference between 'any one claim' and 'aggregate' limit of indemnity?
When assessing the proposal form and calculating the premium insurers will look at a number of different factors. This could include areas of practice i.e. low or high risk, claims history, experience/qualifications, fee income and the types of contracts you are involved in. This includes the total contract value as well as your own fees. Insurers may also want to find out what risk management procedures you have in place as well. To get the best premiums from insurers, it is important to complete a full proposal and make it as accurate and easy to read as possible. Additional information with full details of your experience, the services you offer your clients and the procedures you have in place to mitigate your risk will also help your broker negotiate the most competitive premium on your behalf.
What do insurers look at when quoting on my professional indemnity insurance?
Yes. You can increase the limit any time during the course of your policy. You will just need to let us know the limit you require and the reason you why you would like to increase it. We will then let you know what the additional premium will is.
Can I increase the limit of indemnity during the policy period?
Yes. As well as completing a proposal form, insurers may also want to see a copy of your CV, business plan and financial forecasts.
Can I get Professional Indemnity if I am new start up business?
We use a wide panel of reputable underwriters. As an independent broker we are not tied to a single insurer and have acess to a wide panel of specialist insurers. This ensures that we can look to source you the most competitive cover and quotation in the marketplace, saving you the hassle of approaching multiple brokers or indeed approaching insurers directly.
Which insurers do you use?
What is a retro-active date?
