Professional Indemnity insurance

[Qdos Contractor]

If there was a claim, who would it be against? Me as an individual, or against the company?

If the contract and insurance policy is in your company's name then the claim will be made against the company.


Admin note: professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance available here :-)

[expat]

If the contract and insurance policy is in your company's name then the claim will be made against the company.

What happens if, as I suspect is likely, the contract is in your company's name but specifies you personally as the resource, the insurance is in your company's name, and the claim ia made against you personally?

[Qdos Contractor]

What happens if, as I suspect is likely, the contract is in your company's name but specifies you personally as the resource, the insurance is in your company's name, and the claim ia made against you personally?

I don't think the fact that the individual is named would make any difference. If the contract is between the limited company and the agency/client (so the individual is not party to the agreement) the company would be sued.

[BrowneIssue]

I had Elan refuse to accept the PCG policy because it is a group policy so I had to get it elsewhere.

[The Agents View]

I had Elan refuse to accept the PCG policy because it is a group policy so I had to get it elsewhere.

This is probably a good idea anyway - group policies have a liability limit, essentially £1m cover could be £1m between 10 people. If someone puts in a claim for £750,000 then I THINK the cover drops to £250k - but Im no insurance expert - this would explain why Elan refused it.

It's worth remembering that the policy needs to stay in place for 7 years (this is the limit of liability) if you stop paying it, and 5 years later something that is caused by you causes issues, then the client company can still sue you.

A word of warning to the guy who made the agency pay - if they've paid for you to have your own policy, you need to make sure you keep it in place for 7 years afterwards - they WILL stop paying it.....

[BolshieBastard]

It's worth remembering that the policy needs to stay in place for 7 years (this is the limit of liability) if you stop paying it, and 5 years later something that is caused by you causes issues, then the client company can still sue you.

A word of warning to the guy who made the agency pay - if they've paid for you to have your own policy, you need to make sure you keep it in place for 7 years afterwards - they WILL stop paying it.....

You sure that's the case that the insurance must be kept up for 7 years?

I had a public liability insurance claim for an accident where someone fell on the premises. By the time they made a claim, I'd switched insurance providers to another company. However, the insurance co who were providing cover at the time of the fall picked up the claim even though I was no longer insuring through them.

My insurance agent told me this is normal practice.

If your scenario is correct, this makes Prof Indemnity too impractical. As most of us work through Ltd companies, wouldnt the limited liability kick in?

[Fred Bloggs]

My insurance agent told me this is normal practice.

Correct.

[Qdos Contractor]

I had a public liability insurance claim for an accident where someone fell on the premises. By the time they made a claim, I'd switched insurance providers to another company. However, the insurance co who were providing cover at the time of the fall picked up the claim even though I was no longer insuring through them.

My insurance agent told me this is normal practice.

Public Liability and Professional Indemnity work in different ways. PL is on a 'loss occurring' basis, whereas PI is 'claims made'. Your example in the case of a PL claim is correct, but with PI you would claim on the insurance that was in place at the time of notification.

Most PI providers will offer to cover all retrospective work.

[TCL]

Think I am being ripped off by the sounds of things

My contract specifies a £2m PL and I'm paying £800 pa

Too much?

BTW I am a Unix admin, nothing too dangerous.

[Qdos Contractor]

Think I am being ripped off by the sounds of things

My contract specifies a £2m PL and I'm paying £800 pa

Too much?

BTW I am a Unix admin, nothing too dangerous.

Sounds like a hell of a lot. You're paying £2m just for Public Liability? Or is there Professional Indemnity as well? For comparative purposes, we do a £2m PL policy for IT contractors for £50.

If it's £2m PI that's still a lot (ours is £168).