We’re all familiar with the importance of professional indemnity insurance for mitigating risks and protecting businesses from the potential costs of professional errors or negligence. At Be Covered Insurance Brokers, we have observed an increasing demand from clients interested in including $10 million of professional indemnity insurance as part of their overall insurance program. As the construction sector is subject to complex legal regulations, it is unsurprising that many businesses are keen to ensure that they have the appropriate level of protection in place. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the basics of indemnity insurance, how to obtain coverage, and why it could be the best next move for your business.
How Do I Get Covered?
Professionals and businesses looking to manage risks should consider investing in adequate coverage. However, it can be challenging to navigate the insurance market. At Be Covered Insurance Brokers, we specialise in helping professionals determine what type of coverage they need and how they can best obtain it.
Indemnity cover is usually obtained in two ways:
- Traditional professional indemnity insurance for business professionals who charge a fee for their services; and
- A form of professional indemnity design & construct cover – often used by builders or tradespeople that need protection both in the office and onsite – even when they don’t always (or ever) charge a specific fee for advice related to construction/installation work.
Why Invest in $10,000,000 of Indemnity Insurance for builders?
Many head contractors and principals have seen (or, at the very least, heard) horror stories of extensive losses resulting from inadequate professional indemnity limits held by builders and sub-contractors. We often listen to builders and tradesmen point out that: “we always get an architect to sign off”, “we never take responsibility for the design”, and “we don’t make any changes to designs onsite”.
In reality, however, no trade exists in a vacuum. Most employees or sub-contractors make changes to work around the parts of the job that other trades have already completed. Perhaps the design was not quite right, or an unexpected issue arose, and a decision was made to make changes onsite. In some cases, you may have followed the design according to the specifications, even though you recognised its flaws. We all have the best intentions. No one wants to end up in court due to a mistake or unforeseen issue. It’s a classic case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”.
Investing in the right level of indemnity cover is essential to reducing your risk. We understand that obtaining the right insurance coverage can be daunting but also incredibly important to protect your business from financial hardship. The experts at Be Covered Insurance Brokers are here to help you make an informed decision about the appropriate level of protection for your specific circumstances, whether $10 million builders’ indemnity or less.
What’s the difference Between Professional Indemnity and Liability Insurance?
It’s important to remember that professional indemnity insurance differs from liability insurance, where limits are usually at a minimum of $10,000,000 or $20,000,000. Where liability insurance responds to third-party claims alleging property damage or bodily injury, professional indemnity insurance responds to claims made by a client alleging they have suffered a financial loss as a result of your negligence or a breach of professional duty from services provided by your business.
It’s easy to see why contracts these days are more and more likely to request $10,000,000 professional indemnity insurance upfront. While obtaining $10 million professional indemnity insurance is still tricky for some insurers, many are more than willing to provide a cover solution. To ensure effective and successful insurance coverage, it is essential to provide the correct information, select the right insurer, and engage with a knowledgeable broker who can competently represent your insurance needs.
How Be Covered Insurance Brokers Can Help You
Our friendly professionals at Be Covered Insurance Brokers are based in Adelaide and service clients Australia-wide. We specialise in creating insurance solutions tailored to meet our client’s needs. We aim to ensure that you have the right coverage and limits in place to protect your business. If you require $10,000,000 professional indemnity insurance as a professional or $10,000,000 professional indemnity design & construct insurance as a builder and want to speak to an expert, get in touch with our team online, or call us on (08) 7092 2242.
