Professional Indemnity Insurance? Are professionals covered?

07 March 2003

Zurich Professional announced today that it is extending the range of professions to whom it offers Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance. This follows Zurich Professional's success in both the solicitors' and accountants' market.

In this increasingly litigious society, more and more individuals and businesses are looking for accountability for the adverse consequences they experience as a result of services delivered to them. Therefore, there is an ever increasing need for professionals, who give advice and provide a service, to ensure they have adequate insurance against a claim.

David Coughlan, Head of Zurich Professional, stated 'As the number one provider of PI to solicitors, we have market leading experience in the provision of professional indemnity insurance to professionals. The current litigious environment has resulted in potential liabilities for professions where PI insurance is not mandatory. A PI policy is a means of providing protection against claims and, also, much needed peace of mind'. In addition he said that 'contrary to popular belief, most standard public liability policies do not cover the liability for advisers causing financial losses as a result of an error or omission or simply bad advice'. Hence, there is a greater reason than most advisers perceive for them to hold PI cover. Equally, those businesses that do carry PI insurance often do not hold a sufficient level of cover.

Best business practise is leading the way in making professionals realise the value of having PI insurance. Many firms now only employ the services of professionals who carry PI insurance.

Zurich Professional will provide a standard PI policy and will also offer a number of add-on benefits so that firms can tailor cover to their own requirements.

Examples below give evidence to the above:

Auctioneer
A forged painting was sold through an auction house. The auctioneer was found liable for a negligent misstatement in their catalogue and a judgement was entered against the auctioneer for cost plus commission plus interest.

Tax Adviser
A tax adviser had 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 the Inland Revenue interest plus penalties arising from late payment of the undeclared income. The client in return recovered these sums from the tax adviser.

Exhibition Organiser
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.

PI insurance may be bought from Zurich Professional either through a broker or direct, based on customer choice. For further information please go to http://www.zurich.co.uk/professional/home/introduction.htm

Meanwhile a list of sample professionals that we may cover: