1st Floor
International House
1 St Katharine's Way
London E1W 1UN

Tel: 020 7264 0545
Fax: 020 7264 0544
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• Introduction
• Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Directors and Officers Insurance
• Legal Expenses Insurance
• Office and Liability Insurance

Professional Indemnity Insurance

As a general rule, regulated professional bodies require their members to take out Professional Indemnity Insurance cover as a compulsory insurance.

Historically, the mainstream professions such as Architects, Accountants, Solicitors, Surveyors and Engineers would be regarded as "Professionals". In the modern era a professional is now often regarded as a person or business who offers any specialist advice or service.

A typical Professional Indemnity Insurance policy will in the first instance "provide indemnity to the insured against loss arising from any claims for breach of duty which may be made and reported to the insurers during the policy period by reason of any neglect error or omissions committed in the conduct of the insured's professional business"... in other words ... mistakes!

Some Professional Indemnity Insurance policies go further than the standard cover and provide indemnity to the insured for "Civil Liability" covering areas such as breach of contract and libel and slander.

A professional Indemnity Insurance policy will also often include cover for:

• Loss of documents
• Dishonesty of employees
• Fidelity
• Unintentional breach of confidence
• Infringement of copyright and intellectual property rights
• Previous firms or previous partners

An important feature of Professional Indemnity Insurance is that it operates on a "claims made" basis. This provides cover for claims made (and notified to the insurer) during the period of insurance only, but can relate to work carried out at any time in the history of the insured's business.

The team at Cavendish Munro appreciate that for professional business's their Professional Indemnity Insurance cover is often their most expensive and important insurance and can easily be the highest cost next to staffing and premises.