Risk management insurance

Why do risk management consultants need professional indemnity insurance?

Because you can’t guarantee you’ll never make a mistake in your work.

Potential risks can slip by unnoticed, even to the trained eye. But when your clients are paying for a professional service, that’s what they expect to receive. Fail to deliver, and it’s reasonable they’ll expect things to be put right. Worse still, they could claim you were negligent, and take you to court.

Without professional indemnity insurance, you’ll have to pay to defend yourself from any allegations thrown your way. Do you have the time, money, or expertise to do so? We’re guessing not.

Professional indemnity insurance allows you to get on with what you are good at: running your business. It pays a legal expert to defend you, plus any compensation you’re liable for. That’s a relief.

How much professional indemnity insurance do I need?

There’s safety in numbers. Specifically, the numbers on your insurance.

In simple terms, the more cover you have, the more protection you have. Our advice is always to buy as much as you can afford. You just never know.

But, if you have one eye on the budget (and who doesn’t?), you might want to narrow it down a little. In that case, you need to think about what can go wrong, worst-case scenario. What sort of businesses do you work with? What industries are they in? Are they big or small? How much is your very biggest mistake likely to cost to put right?

We know it’s difficult. If it helps, have a read of this guide or call us if you need more help.

What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

Professional indemnity insurance covers negligence claims and allegations made against you by clients and third parties. That means things you’ve failed to do, or mistakes you’ve made, that have cost other people money.

Specifically (but depending on the policy wording):

• Defamation
• Intellectual property infringement
• Loss of documents or data
• Negligent misrepresentation or misstatement
• Employee dishonesty
• Virus transmission
• Breach of confidentiality

But that’s not all. Some professional indemnity policies can fix a mistake before your client is even aware of it, thereby preventing a claim in the first place.

What else do I need?

If you have any employees, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement. If an employee suffers an injury or illness as a result of working for your company, they can sue it for damages. Your insurance can cover their compensation, plus any legal fees.

If you visit clients, or they visit you, consider getting some public liability insurance. This covers you if someone is injured, or their property is damaged, and you’re to blame.

Office and property insurance covers the things in your office (furniture, plants, fixed IT equipment etc) and portable insurance covers gadgets and technical equipment away from the office (laptops, tablets, projectors etc). If you’re not sure it’s worth insuring, add it all up – it’s probably worth more than you think.

Business interruption insurance means you can still work when your office is out of action. Be it flood, fire or flea infestation, you’re covered for the costs of setting up elsewhere and for any lost revenue in that time.

If you’re a company boss, you can protect yourself with directors’ and officers’ insurance. Anyone can accuse you of not running your business with due care, and in the UK, company directors are personally liable for their actions. The good thing is this insurance covers your defence costs and any compensation you have to pay. So you can put away your chequebook.

Why choose us?

First off, we’re experts. Finding the right insurance for small businesses and self-employed folk is what we do. Day in, day out. And we’re pretty good at it too.

Don’t want to take our word for it? Check out our platinum Feefo rating to see what our customers think.

And if quick and easy is what you’re after, look no further. You can get a quote and buy a policy online in a matter of minutes, with the documents delivered directly to your inbox.

We make getting professionally insured as painless as possible, with no unnecessary jargon or impossible loopholes to jump through.

As if you needed any more reasons, we’ll reward you for referring a friend.