What is Professional Indemnity?

It’s the kind of insurance that protects your business from financially crippling and often reputation-damaging claims by dissatisfied

• Negligence: or breach of duty of care

• Intellectual property: unintentionally infringing on others’ copyrights, trademarks, broadcasting rights, any act of passing off

• Loss of documents/data: damaged, lost or stolen data and documents belonging to your clients

• Dishonesty: liability arising from the theft of your clients’ money

Different professions, different Professional Indemnity.

Which particular risks you are most likely to face depends very much on the nature of your business – obvious enough, you would

An IT consultant is often left dangerously exposed by the service contracts he is required to work under. Breach of either specific or

A Marketing consultant on the other hand is considered more exposed to dangers such as unintentional breach of privacy, or

Management consultants are vulnerable to claims of negligence any time their recommendations fail to come up to a clients’

expectations.

defamation (accidental libel or slander).

implied terms in a contract is a well known risk in IT.

think, but other insurers make no distinctions in their policies.

clients. Because in this everything-by-yesterday world, even the most respectable companies can find themselves in dispute with a

client over a mistake. Below we list some of the danger areas your business could be exposed to:

At Hiscox, we use our insight into these three professions to offer cover against the problems that each are most likely to experience.

How will it protect my business ?

Professional Indemnity from Hiscox works in a number of ways:

1. It will cover you if you make a mistake in the professional services you have provided that leads to a dispute with a client. If the dispute

2. The policy will also cover the cost of fixing any mistake on your part, thus avoiding a larger claim being made. Fixing a problem

3. You are also protected if you lose or damage any clients’ documents in your care or if one of your employees are involved in the

Other benefits include:

• Direct access to specialist claims staff and advisors who understand your industry

• Access to specialist legal teams to defend a claim in court

• Avoiding large legal costs your business would otherwise have to pay for

• Protecting your reputation as well as the bottom line

Page 1: What is Professional Indemnity

theft of a clients’ money.

before it becomes an even bigger problem is simple common sense. Our approach helps all parties avoid wasting considerable

time and resources on long and drawn-out litigation.

becomes complicated and nasty, Hiscox can defend your claim – right through to the High Court, if necessary. Even if you lose,

the policy will still cover you for any damages you then become liable for, subject to the level of cover your business is insured for.