Professional indemnity insurance is used by many professional jobs such as engineers, architects, brokers, lawyers and financial advisors. It is used to protect against claims in today’s litigious climate against negligent professional services.
Without professional indemnity insurance companies and individuals are left wide open to claims against error, negligence, professional negligence and various obligations of the services they provide. That is why it is important for professionals to take the insurance. PI without insurance companies and individuals at risk to defend against the claims of which they may in fact be responsible.
Of course depending on the level of risk and claims against individuals and companies have different policies of professional indemnity insurance is available. For example, an individual may argue that the $ 2 million PI cover would be suitable for the services he provides. However, larger companies may argue that $ 20 million PI cover is what is required in order to reduce the risk of the services they provide.
Obviously the greater the professional indemnity insurance, the greater the premium that you will need to pay. That is where you will need to evaluate the risks and rewards for the level of cover you choose to take.
Generally, the higher the perceived risk of the services you offer to your clients the greater the amount of professional indemnity insurance you will need to take. Therefore, in the more risky profession you will need to pay higher premiums to cover the perceived risk that you are subjecting yourself.
In order to obtain PI insurance you’ll usually go through an insurance broker. There are literally hundreds of insurance brokers who can set you up with PI insurance. In most cases, the quotes you receive will be guaranteed by a large insurance agency.
Usually this will be the larger insurance companies that will pay the claim through an insurance broker you choose to engage for your PI insurance if there is a claim against you or your company.
Later in the sequence your claims will usually be through your insurance agent and paid by the insurance company underwriting the larger if your case is received by the assessment panel if you happen to make a claim for insurance.
Going through professional indemnity insurance broker or agency can save you a lot of time because they usually have contacts with major insurance companies and understand their policies. For example, different PI insurance policy will cover you for different situations.
Therefore, by contact with your broker to explain your circumstances and what you want to be covered for. Then the broker can suggest a PI insurance policy which may be the best option for individual situations. Obviously this will save you a lot of time not only in choosing the right policy, but also in dealing with the document if a claim is made against you or your company.
But make a note to review the insurance policy before proceeding to obtain PI cover. The reason for this is you then will be informed to exactly what you’re covered because if you’re lucky enough to have a claim against either you or your company. Plus you will also understand what is included in the exemption policy to state that your insurance policy will not cover you for.
If you offer a service that you may have a claim against you is very important that you consider taking out professional indemnity insurance. There is an upfront premium for the cover but can potentially save you from crippling financial disaster in the event a claim against you.
The reason for this is that insurance companies will usually cover the damages against you if the claim is in line with their policy and your case judged in favor of you or your company.
Even the most respectable companies that have various claims against them during the time period from satisfied clients. Usually no matter how diligent, competent and professional service you offer to your clients is almost always there is the risk of having a claim made against you from satisfied clients.
That is why it is important to consider taking out professional indemnity insurance if you feel there is risk of a claim against you. Not only will this give you the level of cover in the unfortunate circumstances of your claim but will also provide peace of mind when providing professional services because you will usually be covered by insurance companies big and strong.