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If you’re in the business of offering advice, consultation, assistance in supervising projects or even design expertise, you’re legally required to protect your clients’ interests that are related to the service you provide.

Having a Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance policy in place in Australia is a mandatory requirement for many professions. It’s an essential requirement for professionals such as:

1. Medical Practitioners who run their own clinics, or healthcare institutions and offer advice and recommendation to patients.
2. Surveyors who are entrusted with the task of surveying a construction project.
3. Mortgage intermediaries who work with banking institutions or lenders and mortgage seekers.
4. Insurance brokers who work with insurance companies and their customers.
5. Financial advisers who offer strategic and investment advice to individuals, companies or agencies.
6. Architects who design or approve a project layout/design.

Further, many companies in PR management and advertising have also begun to secure PI policies in order to protect their businesses from claims arising from losses or damages incurred by clients.
Having a PI cover is absolutely necessary in today’s business world but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take steps necessary to avoid claims in the first place. Make it a point to consult a lawyer and draft a comprehensive service contract. Look at each clause in a service contract from different legal angles and get 2^nd opinions if possible. When both you and your customers have a clear idea of what you offer, it’s possible to reduce the number of potential claims. However, a comprehensive contract alone cannot help you avoid claims on some occasions. That’s when you’ll need a Professional Indemnity Insurance Policy.

How can PI cover help you?

Compensation claims resulting from physical, material or financial injuries can be significant on some occasions. Even if the average revenue per customer is not large, the amount of compensation in the event of a successful claim can really add up depending on the nature of the damages sustained.

To make matters worse, defending these claims in a court of law can be very expensive. You may have to fund significant legal fees to defend a claim made by a disgruntled customer or client, determined to take on your business until his/her losses, whether real or not, are compensated in full.

When you’re covered by a PI policy, you have peace of mind that such claims should not affect your business. Your Insurer should pay for the legal costs in defending in action and in the event you’re held liable for a client’s losses can cover any compensation awarded.

Want more business – get PI Cover

Many professionals are yet to realize the fact that people are now choosing professional companies or individuals who’ve PI cover. Not having Professional Indemnity Insurance can sometimes translate into the loss of a contract. More and more customers are asking service providers to verify their PI cover before entering into a service agreement.- And for good reason. Your customers want to know that you to have enough PI cover so that their interests are protected if something in the process goes wrong.

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