Agency asking for PI insurance

[mickhucknall]

Hi, i started a contract a month ago and have now been asked by the agency to take out professional indemnity insurance cover of £1m.

The terms in the contract don't specify any level just some waffle along the lines of "maintain provision of adequate Professional Indemnity Insurance in respect of the contractor, representative and provision of services."

The client has said they don't require this at all, so i'm not that keen on taking it out as it's quite expensive and i've never been asked for this cover before.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[northernladuk]

It is not expensive at all. QDOS does it for 200 quid and it is tax deductable. It is also not uncommon to be asked for it.

Go get it, show agent, get on with contract. End of..

[Wanderer]

The client has said they don't require this at all, so i'm not that keen on taking it out as it's quite expensive and i've never been asked for this cover before.

If your contract requires it then you should really have it. Do a search here - there are lots of providers and it isn't THAT expensive.

[MarillionFan]

It is not expensive at all. QDOS does it for 200 quid and it is tax deductable. It is also not uncommon to be asked for it.

Go get it, show agent, get on with contract. End of..

Oh come on. Are you telling us you've got PI insurance now as well?

[AtW]

It's very cheap, probably means they'll never pay out but at least you'd have peace of mind for a bit.

[MarillionFan]

It's very cheap, probably means they'll never pay out but at least you'd have peace of mind for a bit.

Find me a contractor who has ever needed to use his PI insurance and I'll shut up about it being a massive rip off for contractors.

[mickhucknall]

Ta for the qdos tip. I got a quote from (Hiscox), as recommended by the agency and it came up as £415. Other quotes were as high as £800!?

As it's only a short term contract, i'll most likely just get the cover, then cancel it once i've left.

Cheers all for the advice.

[malvolio]

Find me a contractor who has ever needed to use his PI insurance and I'll shut up about it being a massive rip off for contractors.

Well there's the guy who got sued for £5m for losing a backup not so long ago...

Ta for the qdos tip. I got a quote from (Hiscox), as recommended by the agency and it came up as £415. Other quotes were as high as £800!?

It's based on turnover and market. £400-ish for hiscox is about par for most contractors. QDOS works equally well but isn't the same cover, although it's enough for what we need.

As it's only a short term contract, i'll most likely just get the cover, then cancel it once i've left.

Bad idea. It needs to be in place when you get sued, not when you are working. It's peanuts to buy, it's another string to your IR35 defence, so just buy it and forget it.

[CheeseSlice]

Bad idea. It needs to be in place when you get sued, not when you are working. It's peanuts to buy, it's another string to your IR35 defence, so just buy it and forget it.

I think it depends on the type of policy and firm selling the cover, although I'd agree it should be in effect when you get sued.

You will find that some PIs include full retrospective cover, and others dont.
Retrospective can give you cover for all previous work, even for work done before taking out the policy.
Others may only cover work done whilst the policy was active.

[JamJarST]

Oh come on. Are you telling us you've got PI insurance now as well?

Are you telling us you would breach the terms of a contract by not having it?