Professional Indemnity Insurance from Livingstones.

There are several types of business insurance available and depending on the nature of your business you may need to take out a bundle of policies to cover yourself and your business against various risks. If you offer advice or services in a professional capacity, perhaps as an accountant, will writer or financial services advisor, you should consider taking out Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII).

PII is different from other types of business insurance because it covers losses that have arisen because of advice – intellectual mistakes or negligence caused by lack of knowledge or experience. Other types of business insurance cover losses caused by rather more concrete events, like trips or slips on business premises, or a breach of contract. PII is specifically designed to protect you by covering your legal fees and the cost of any order or agreement made to settle a case brought against you by a client.

An example might be that you have advised a client to take out a particular type of mortgage, on the basis that the mortgage will give them the best rate or be the cheapest option available. If that client ends up in negative equity as a result (perhaps you did not advise them to take out adequate insurance) then they could sue you for negligence. Another common example might be that in writing a will for someone you failed to ensure that the will was properly signed and witnessed and, on your client’s death, their intended beneficiary sues because they were not able to inherit under the will.

Even if the client ultimately has no prospect of successfully suing you and cannot prove that you were in any way negligent, the cost of defending such a claim can amount to thousands of pounds. Would your business sustain that kind of loss, even if you were to be able to reclaim those costs from the client months later? What if they were to succeed in their claim, could you afford to pay whatever was ordered to be paid by a court?

Taking out Professional Indemnity Insurance will ensure that your legal fees plus money awarded to the client through the courts or an out-of-court settlement will be paid by your policy, not out of your capital account. The policy will also pay for your client’s legal fees, which a court may well order you to pay if you were to lose.

If you need PII it is vital that you buy it from a reputable company that will give you the best available policy for your money. There is little point in taking out a policy and paying for it each month if the small print means that you will never realistically be able to claim against it.

At Livingstones we can advise you on the best policy for you and find you the cheapest deal that only we can and we can arrange flexible payment terms if needed. We pride ourselves on our high level of customer service.

For a small monthly fee, you can buy peace of mind. So contact us today: you can call us, or email us and we will call you at a time that suits you, or you can call in and visit our offices in London.