Professional Indemnity Insurance provides essential financial protection for a wide range of professional advisers. In the event that a client suffers financial loss as a result of alleged neglect, error or omission Professional Indemnity Insurance will meet the cost of defending claims and any damages payable.

No matter what professional business you're in, client expectations of service and quality of advice continue to grow. That's good - it means we're all striving to improve on what we do. The down-side is the increasing number of claims for alleged negligence or breach of duty.

The need for professional indemnity insurance has never been greater. It's a 'must have' - without the right insurance, you're putting your business and personal assets at risk. It's not just the potential damages that may be payable, it's the cost of defending claims that may be made against you.

Your expertise is advising your clients how to achieve their goals. Our expertise is advising you how to protect your most valuable assets - you and your business.

Do you have the right type and amount of insurance?

Talk to us - we understand your business, so you don't have to understand ours. While some professional people see Professional Indemnity Insurance as an expensive and unnecessary overhead, we know from experience that any professional can produce substantial claims.

The following examples highlight the importance of Professional Indemnity Insurance:

1. A business wished to be known by a particular trade name. After consulting with company registration agents, it was told that there was no objection to its chosen name. Proceedings were issued by a company with a similar name and approximately $50,000 was paid in connection by the agents.
   
   
2. Detailers prepared structural drawings for the erection of steelwork. It was subsequently alleged that the drawings contained errors and approximately $275,000 was claimed for the costs of alteration and the resulting delays in construction.
   
   
3. An auctioneer sold property at auction over a number of years. It was alleged that the property was stolen and a claim for approximately $750,000 was brought for conversion.
   
   
4. It was alleged that consulting engineers were negligent in their design of waste heating boilers. A claim for £4m was brought for the cost of extra work and the resulting delays.
   
   
5. An estate agent missed the opportunity to carry out a rent review because of a defective rent review notice. The claim was settled for approximately $150,000.
   
   
6. A tax adviser prepared a client's tax returns for a number of years but failed to
   include in the returns relevant details of taxable income provided to him by the client. The client was liable to pay not only the due tax but interest plus penalties arising from late payment of the undeclared income. The client in return recovered these sums from the tax adviser.
   
   
7. An exhibition organiser was responsible for booking a venue for a specialist event but, forgot to confirm the booking. As a result, the venue was not available for the client and the event had to be cancelled. Consequently, the exhibition organiser was liable to the client for cancellation fees it had to pay to speakers and caterers as well as printed literature that could not be reused.

How much cover is required?

Only the professional can assess the amount of cover appropriate to the business. In determining how much cover to effect, it is important that a realistic view is taken of the potential damages and legal costs for which the business could become liable.

Being under-insured can be almost as financially disastrous as being without insurance at all - in both cases the financial security of a business is threatened.