insurance policy clause in contract

[tractor]

...

I don't understand how such nonsense can be written into a contract. But the client is a huge employer and possibly their legal "experts" had something to do with it.

It's important to understand that lawyers have a vested interest in making everything as complex as possible so they can charge more. They play on insecurities and incompetence and general gullibility or ignorance of their clients.

Not only do you have this once in the chain but as many times as there are intermediaries. Couple this with the high level of incompetence and business ignorance of most agents and you have a real mountain to climb which is why sometimes it is best left to your reviewer to argue the case directly, circumventing most of the dross in the chain.

I have yet to speak to an agent who actually understands comprehensively what he is proferring in the contract.

[Andy Hallett]

Phew, not one of our contracts. Our term for anyone interested.

The Service Provider shall maintain, during the Agreement, adequate employers’ liability insurance, public liability insurance and
professional indemnity insurance. The Service Provider shall provide the Company, immediately upon its request, Certificates of
Insurance issued by their insurance brokers evidencing the coverage’s required herein together with any other information reasonably
requested by the Company relating to such insurance policies. The Service Provider shall provide the Company with no less than thirty
days prior written notice in the event of cancellation or material change in cover.

[tractor]

Phew, not one of our contracts. Our term for anyone interested.

The Service Provider shall maintain, during the Agreement, adequate employers’ liability insurance, public liability insurance and
professional indemnity insurance. The Service Provider shall provide the Company, immediately upon its request, Certificates of
Insurance issued by their insurance brokers evidencing the coverage’s required herein together with any other information reasonably
requested by the Company relating to such insurance policies. The Service Provider shall provide the Company with no less than thirty
days prior written notice in the event of cancellation or material change in cover.

Do you quantify 'adequate' as you write the contract?

[Andy Hallett]

Do you quantify 'adequate' as you write the contract?

No we don't. Ultimately the Service Provider should be responsible for it and we don't want to exert overbearing influence on them.

An 'adequate' level of cover depends on the type of assignment the contractor is undertaking and the industry that is in.

If a contractor wanted to define it I would happily change the clause if we could agree the numbers for the 3 types.

[SueEllen]

It's important to understand that lawyers have a vested interest in making everything as complex as possible so they can charge more. They play on insecurities and incompetence and general gullibility or ignorance of their clients.

However if they are stupid enough not to define terms then you could drag it to court and leave a judge to decide what you both mean like below from this:

The wording of a contract can sometimes be construed in more than one way, and the court must decide in context on which interpretation reflects the intention. Even where the wording appears to provide an obvious meaning, if the result of it is very unreasonable, the court may give the clause a less obvious interpretation. This is on the basis that the more unreasonable the result, the more unlikely it is that the parties intended it.

(My italics)

[Taita]

Phew, not one of our contracts. Our term for anyone interested.

The Service Provider shall maintain, during the Agreement, adequate employers’ liability insurance, public liability insurance and
professional indemnity insurance. The Service Provider shall provide the Company, immediately upon its request, Certificates of
Insurance issued by their insurance brokers evidencing the coverage’s required herein together with any other information reasonably
requested by the Company relating to such insurance policies. The Service Provider shall provide the Company with no less than thirty
days prior written notice in the event of cancellation or material change in cover.

"unlimited" "adequate" - How long is a piece of string comes to mind!

If a party to a contract is demanding certain conditions such as insurance then that party should clearly define those conditions. Who wants to have to face months of uncertainty over a Court's decision when it is so easy to set acceptable parameters in a contract document from its inception?

In fact I am very surprised that your legal advisors let your company get away with it. I bet it is a very long time since your contracts were professionally reviewed as the wording seems to date back to when we contractors slid rapidly away from 'business expenses'. In fact prior to IR 35, I and many I know had no insurance at all because there was little need to demonstrate we were 'businesses'.

[Andy Hallett]

"unlimited" "adequate" - How long is a piece of string comes to mind!

If a party to a contract is demanding certain conditions such as insurance then that party should clearly define those conditions. Who wants to have to face months of uncertainty over a Court's decision when it is so easy to set acceptable parameters in a contract document from its inception?

In fact I am very surprised that your legal advisors let your company get away with it. I bet it is a very long time since your contracts were professionally reviewed as the wording seems to date back to when we contractors slid rapidly away from 'business expenses'. In fact prior to IR 35, I and many I know had no insurance at all because there was little need to demonstrate we were 'businesses'.

We do audit that insurance is in place and I've not had an instance where the level of cover is lower than we need.

I review the contract suitability with our legal team every time there is a new piece of legislation. You will be delighted to know this has been annually over the past few years.

If you are lucky enough to secure an assignment with one of our brands I'd be more than happy to negotiate our archaic contract with you

[TheFaQQer]

(My italics)

It's all in italics.

[tractor]

We do audit that insurance is in place and I've not had an instance where the level of cover is lower than we need.

I review the contract suitability with our legal team every time there is a new piece of legislation. You will be delighted to know this has been annually over the past few years.

If you are lucky enough to secure an assignment with one of our brands I'd be more than happy to negotiate our archaic contract with you

Which is? I am just negotiating a contract with exactly the same words in it. I am pressing them to quantify 'sufficient'

If I were lucky enough to secure a contract with one of your brands I would insist that you do the same or I would walk away.

[andyc2000]

And are you an employer? Probably not.

"adequate employers’ liability insurance".

I had that taken out of my current contract (along with product insurance as I'm not a developer) because I'd hardly sue myself...