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Professional Indemnity Insurance

However complex your professional indemnity insurance requirements, RPLovatt can offer the complete service you expect from an established specialist in this sector. Our relationships with insurers give us access to a wide range of specialist insurance products.

A typical Professional Indemnity policies offer broad cover to meet the needs of today's professionals. They provide indemnity against legal liability to pay damages and claimant's costs and expenses as a result of a breach of professional duty on the part of the business. They also pay for all other costs and expenses incurred with our consent.

The insurance covers the policyholder's liability for the acts, errors and omissions of:

  • partners or former partners
  • directors or employees
  • agents

In addition, the policy includes cover for liability arising from:

  • Negligence: or breach of duty of care
  • Intellectual property: unintentionally infringing on others' copyrights, trademarks, broadcasting rights, any act of passing off
  • Loss of documents/data: damaged, lost or stolen data and documents belonging to your clients
  • Dishonesty: liability arising from the theft of your clients' money

Defence costs are paid in addition to the limit of indemnity in most cases.

How much cover is required?

We recommend that no insurance policy is taken out with a limit of less than £250,000. We will, however, provide a quotation for a minimum of £100,000 if required. We are also able to provide cover up to a limit of £10,000,000 in most cases. If higher limits are required we are able to provide an excess of loss. Any professionals in doubt about the amount of cover they should take out should consult their insurance brokers or legal advisers.

Gone are the days when only professionals such as solicitors, surveyors or accountants needed Professional Indemnity insurance. Today, clients have high expectations of their professional advisers - whatever their field - and are well aware of their legal rights. There is no question that any business which provides professional advice, designs, or offers similar services to clients needs the protection Professional Indemnity insurance provides.

A wide range of occupations can be insured against the consequences of actual or alleged errors or omissions, ranging from the traditional classes to the new and more unusual risks.

Our clients have the support of a dedicated Professional & Financial Risks claims team, with a reputation for fairness in their approach to claims handling.

Typical Policy Features

  • Civil Liability wordings available for most professions.
  • Broad definition of Insured, including former principals, partners, directors and employees.
  • Cover for vicarious liability of agents.
  • Defence Costs paid in addition to the limit of indemnity.
  • Cover for the consequences of lost or damaged documents (including the cost of replacement whether in electronic or paper format).
  • Compensation for court attendance as a witness in connection with a claim.
  • Cover for liability arising out of the dishonesty of employees or agents.
  • We can include a clause that addresses waiver of our rights to avoid claims in the event of non-disclosure or misrepresentation, so long as there is no fraudulent conduct on the part of the Insured.
  • Specialist policies for a wide range of occupations, where necessary, providing cover that exceeds the minimum requirements of the relevant professional bodies.

Different professions, different Professional Indemnity

Which particular risks you are most likely to face depends very much on the nature of your business - obvious enough, you would think, but other insurers make no distinctions in their policies.

An IT consultant is often left dangerously exposed by the service contracts he is required to work under. Breach of either specific or implied terms in a contract is a well known risk in IT.

A Marketing consultant on the other hand is considered more exposed to dangers such as unintentional breach of privacy, or defamation (accidental libel or slander).

Management consultants are vulnerable to claims of negligence any time their recommendations fail to come up to a clients' expectations. At RPLovatt, we use our insight into these three professions to offer cover against the problems that each are most likely to experience.

How will it protect my business?

Professional Indemnity - A Beginner's Guide

Often, your client will set a minimum limit of the indemnity they require. This can depend on the specific nature of the services you've been contracted to provide, or they could have a set limit for all their service providers. For example, many UK government departments will require their contractors and consultants to have at least £5 million of cover.

It's also worth considering taking our retroactive cover for work that you've already completed before the policy commences.

By doing this, you will have all bases covered.

If you need any further information, please contact us.

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