Professional Indemnity Insurance

Professional indemnity insurance is designed to protect your business if a client suffers financial losses as a result of the work you do for them. Your clients rely on your professional expertise. If something went wrong causing them to lose money, you may be liable to pay them compensation. Professional indemnity insurance can offer protection against these eventualities and give you peace of mind knowing that should something unexpected happen, you’re covered.

Professional indemnity insurance is tailored for professionals who provide advice, services or handle client’s data or intellectual property. Essentially, it covers your professional liability should something go wrong with the work that you do. As careful as you may be, mistakes can be made that can have a significant financial impact on your client. Professional indemnity insurance is typically designed to offer protection against these eventualities.

Professional indemnity insurance claims could arise as a result of your business activities from providing an incorrect medical diagnosis to delivering graphic designs that don’t adhere to the brief. As such, different businesses can benefit from taking out this insurance and protecting their work. You are likely to need professional indemnity insurance if:

• You provide advice or professional services
• You provide designs to your customers
• You want to protect against allegations of mistakes or negligence in work you have undertaken
• You work as a contractor, consultant, freelancer or self-employed professional, and your client has requested you arrange professional indemnity insurance to undertake a contract
• Your industry association/regulatory body requires you to have it

Generally, any company or individual that provides advice, a professional service, or handles a client’s data and intellectual property could find themselves vulnerable to a claim.

So, whether you run your very own architecture firm, private dental practice or are an independent personal trainer, professional indemnity insurance could protect your business.

Unlike employers’ liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance is not mandatory for businesses under UK law. However, some regulatory bodies require professional indemnity insurance to be in place for certain trades and professions. These include:

• Financial advisers
• Solicitors
• Architects
• Chartered surveyors
• Care & medical professionals

While you may not be legally required to have Professional Indemnity insurance in place, you may wish to consider this cover for your business if you are doing any design work, providing a service or advice, or handling intellectual property or third-party data on behalf of your clients.