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2Accurate as of July 2024
Professional indemnity insurance is a type of business insurance policy which covers the cost of compensating clients for loss or damage resulting from negligent services or advice provided by a business or an individual.
An indemnity policy pays for a specialist solicitor to defend you, and covers any compensation or damages you have to pay. Professional indemnity insurance covers the cost of legal fees relating to a claim and any compensation or settlement awarded.
Claims covered might relate to professional negligence, defamation, and breach of confidence or copyright.
Whether you're a small business or a corporate enterprise, it's worth looking into professional indemnity insurance for peace of mind if you need to make an insurance claim.
Professional indemnity insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but some clients may insist you hold this cover before hiring you to work for them.
You might need business indemnity insurance if you offer a professional service (i.e. surveyor), you give advice to clients (i.e. accountant), you have access to a client’s data or copyrighted material (i.e. IT contractor) or you may cause damage to the client’s property based on your advice (i.e. a builder or roofer).
Some professions are required to have professional indemnity insurance by their professional bodies or regulators. These include solicitors, accountants, architects, chartered surveyors, financial advisers, and some healthcare professionals.
If the advice you give leads to a bad outcome, some clients might sue. Professions that give advice include solicitors, financial advisers, and accountants, and small businesses like public relations, advertising and IT consultancies.
Professional indemnity insurance will cover you if you lose or release a client’s confidential information. For example, an IT contractor might accidentally delete a client’s database. If they’re sued for this error, professional indemnity insurance will cover them.
Builders, plumbers, engineers and electricians are all at risk of damaging a third party client’s property during the course of their work. Professional indemnity insurance will cover them if this happens due to your advice.
Professional indemnity insurance can be quite cheap for some businesses – on average £8.30 a month³.
How much you’ll pay depends on:
The risk level and size of your business
How much cover you need
The sector you work in
Your claims history
Customer % | Annual (one-off payment) | Monthly (direct debit payment) |
|---|---|---|
51% of customers paid up to | £71.57 | £8.30 |
³MoneySuperMarket customer data March 2024
Professional negligence: If you give incorrect advice or make a mistake in your work that causes a client or customer to lose money or suffer reputational damage.
Defamation: If you produce or support libellous or slanderous statements about your client.
Breach of confidence: If you share sensitive information without permission or intentionally or unintentionally mishandle client data or information.
Breach of copyright: If you infringe on copyrights, trademarks, or intellectual property or produce work that causes your client to face claims.
Lost or damaged documents: If you lose or damage the belongings of clients or customers (i.e. stock, equipment, documents, or data).
Employee cover: If you employ other people and they cause a loss for your client.
Professional indemnity insurance covers claims made by a client during the period the cover is in place. This means it won’t cover:
Claims by employees: This should be covered by employers’ liability insurance, which is a legal requirement for UK businesses
Claims by the public: Any injury or damage caused to members of the public or their property needs to be covered by public liability insurance
Work previously carried out: The policy must have been active when the work was undertaken and the claim made unless you take out a retroactive policy covering work carried out from an earlier given date.
Professional indemnity insurance is likely to be of particular interest to businesses that provide advice to clients, like a solicitor or financial adviser, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful if you’re not in one of these professions.
According to the Association of British Insurers, professional indemnity claims make up over a quarter of business insurance claims in the UK*. Think about what your business does that could lead to a negligence claim. Maybe you handle customer or client data or deal with copyrighted material? Having the right insurance in place means you can focus on what you’re good at – serving your customers.
At MoneySuperMarket, we’re dedicated to helping people find the best deals for their needs. We make it easy to compare professional indemnity insurance deals from leading UK providers, helping save money on your premiums.
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If you work in certain professions, regulatory bodies might require that your business has professional indemnity insurance, however, it isn’t strictly a legal requirement.
Yes, as it can be classed as an ‘allowable expense’.
Professional indemnity insurance is not the premise so it doesn’t matter where you’re working, if you’re offering advice then you need professional indemnity insurance.
You’ll also be able to add any of the following policies to your overall business insurance:
● Public liability cover: Public liability insurance covers your business for the cost of any compensation claims you might face if someone becomes ill or injured, or has their property damaged as a result of the work you do
● Employers’ liability cover: Employers’ liability insurance covers legal costs resulting from an employee becoming ill or injured, or having their property damaged as a result of your business
● Product liability cover: Product liability insurance protects you against the cost of legal fees resulting from someone becoming ill or injured, or having their property damaged by a product you sell – which you may be liable for even if you didn’t manufacture it
● Business interruption cover: Business interruption policies cover you for lost income if the running of your business is interrupted by an insured event such as a fire or flood
● Business buildings cover: Also known as business property insurance, this covers you for the cost of any damage done to your premises resulting from an insured event
Comparing business insurance deals with MoneySuperMarket and Simply Business is the easiest way to find a cheaper quote for your company. Just give us a few details about your business and employees and we’ll show you a list of quotes tailored to your requirements.
You’ll be able to compare deals by their overall cost, the cover you’ll get and any extra policies you can add to your overall business insurance. Once you’ve found the provider and quote you want, just click through to the provider to finalise your purchase.
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