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Professional Indemnity

If your organisation, employee or a party you may be legally or contractually responsible for, fails to exercise a competent degree of skill and care in the performance of their duties, you can be held responsible.

Exposure to Liability

Professionals and professional service organisations perform in an environment of increased responsibility and accountability.

If your organisation, employee or a party you may be legally or contractually responsible for, fails to exercise a competent degree of skill and care in the performance of their duties, you can be held responsible.  With litigation becoming an increasingly common means of settling disputes, professionals are being held more accountable for their advice and actions and any losses suffered as a consequence.

Liability may arise from breach of contract or in tort for damages arising from negligence.

Claims, whether spurious or not, often require protracted legal action to defend which can be costly, regardless of the outcome.  The burden of litigation ultimately impacts on the capital of the organisation and in certain circumstances may place the organisation under extreme financial pressure.

Insurance Solution

Professional Indemnity insurance can help protect you and your organisation against the financial strain of litigation.  It covers your legal liability to compensate third parties for losses caused by a breach of professional duty or negligence in the performance of your professional services.

Cover can extend to include your legal liability to third parties, which emanates from other parties contracted to you.

Typical purchasers of Professional Indemnity include:

  • Accountants
  • Architects
  • Corporate Advisory/Merchant Bankers
  • Customs Agents
  • Design Specialists
  • Engineers
  • Financial Institutions
  • Insurance Brokers/Financial Advisers
  • Lawyers
  • Management Consultants/HR Consultants
  • Medical Professionals
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Surveyors
  • Technology Consultants & Suppliers/Software Designers
  • Valuers

Coverage

Policies provide a broad scope of coverage. Many policy extensions are either included automatically, or are readily available as “add ons” for an additional premium.

However, policies do differ significantly in scope of cover between insurers.  Therefore, it is important that you consult with a specialist insurance broker before making any decisions on which policy best suits your particular requirements.

Some of the risks that can be covered by a Professional Indemnity policy include:

  • Civil Liability arising from the provision of professional services
  • Protection of employees as well as the organisation and its principals / partners
  • Payment of legal defence costs and expenses as they are incurred
  • Defamation – covers defamatory remarks made about others (either written or oral) in the course of conducting your business
  • Cover for costs incurred at official investigations
  • Unintentional infringement of copyright, trademarks, designs or patents
  • Cover to protect the organisations assets against theft or fraud by an employee
  • Cover for liability arising as a result of the dishonesty of any employee or principal / partner of the organisation
  • Cover for past liabilities of a predecessor’s business activities
  • The cost of replacing lost or stolen documents, plans, models etc, and for liability incurred as a result of the loss
  • Cover for former and incoming principals / partners and employees

Policies can be tailored to cover exposure from liabilities incurred anywhere in the world – including USA.