Professional Indemnity Explained
Any contractor, consultant, professional or small business who provides professional advice or designs is open to a claim for damages if things go wrong. Costs could run into the millions.
Any contractor, consultant, professional or small business who provides professional advice or designs is open to a claim for damages if things go wrong. Costs could run into the millions.
All ‘claims made’ policies have a retroactive date on their policies, and it’s something very important to consider when purchasing professional indemnity insurance and other liability insurance policies.
Insurance is ultimately about risk transfer. One party (the insurer) agrees to take on the risk of another (the policyholder) in return for some benefit (premium). Business insurance as we know it today began in Mr Edward Lloyd’s coffee house in London in the late 17th century.
Employers Liability insurance provides covers for:
the costs of settlement or damages in respect of claims for personal injury to employees;
which occurred in the course of their employment; and
not covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Directors and Officers’ liability (D&O) provides cover for the costs of defending legal action arising from the decisions and actions taken by a company’s directors or senior management.
Working in the insurance industry it’s always surprising the number of clients that don’t notify to their insurance company when they have a dispute with a client or a threat of legal action that has been made against them in respect of the professional services they provide.
This insurance policy provides cover when people are blaming you for causing them personal injury or property damage, whilst carrying out your business. They may be demanding compensation for the loss or injury they have suffered, and threatening to take legal action against you.
There are a wide range of offences under many different statutes that companies, directors, employees and other organisations can breach. A statutory liability policy covers you to defend an unintentional breaches as well as the fines that a legally indemnifiable and reparations under Health and Safety legislation.
The Health and Safety in Work Act was passed by Parliament in August 2015. Health and safety is an issue that impacts virtually all companies and organisations in New Zealand and the Act has the potential to bring about some big changes.
Most liability insurance policies are ‘claims made’ policies, some of which include:
Professional indemnity
Directors and officers liability
Statutory liability
Employer liability
…………………… but what does claims made actually mean?
GSI Direct is a trading name of GSI Insurance Brokers (Auckland) Ltd, a New Zealand-based company. GSI Insurance Brokers (Auckland) Ltd is a Lloyd’s coverholder and an Authorised Agent of certain underwriters at Lloyd’s. GSI Insurance Brokers (Auckland) Ltd trading as GSI Direct arranges insurance on behalf of the insurer and coordinates the response when a claim is made. GSI Direct does not provide personalised advice on insurance.
Level 1, 490 South Titirangi Road – Titirangi
PO Box 15854, New Lynn
Waitakere 0640, New Zealand
Your payment is processed using our secure servers. All transactions are billed in New Zealand dollars.