While, for most professions, Professional Indemnity cover is not a legal requirement, if you provide professional services, designs, advice, handle client data or intellectual property, you should consider Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Without adequate insurance cover, you could be putting both your business and potentially your home or other personal assets, at risk in the event of a claim. Legal costs and compensation payouts can rack up a hefty bill, particularly in professional indemnity claims where often the stakes are high. A professional indemnity policy is a quick and easy way to protect your business from financial loss and reputational damage.

In many cases, your business is likely to be asked by a client, regulator or professional body to have a specific minimum level of indemnity before any work commences. In this case, not having sufficient cover in place as standard can hold up or lose your business a quality contract.

Speak to an insurance broker about the kind of work you carry out and calculate the cost of your worst-case scenario of what could go wrong.

While Professional Indemnity is not a legal requirement for most professions, it is a requirement for many medical professionals working in the UK. In this case, it is known as Medical Indemnity or Medical Malpractice Insurance. Find out more here. Other professions such as Accountants, Solicitors, Architects, Surveyors, Financial Advisors and Insurance Brokers also have regulatory and/or professional body requirements in terms of holding professional indemnity and the minimum required cover limits.

Insync provides the best of both worlds, instant tailored online professional indemnity insurance, supported by expert advice from our team of UK based Business Insurance advisors.

As our client, you get a dedicated Account Executive who will handle your policy throughout. Our team can compare professional indemnity insurance cover from several insurance providers to find you the right deal, and it doesn't stop there.

We can also compare a range of other business insurance policies for your package, including Public Liability Insurance, Business Interruption, Business Equipment and Employers' Liability insurance.

As we've said, any business owner who is providing professional advice should consider Professional Indemnity insurance. Areas, where you should expect you take out Professional Indemnity, include but are not limited to:

• Financial services - financial advisers, accounts, brokers etc.
• Other consultants - marketing, legal, management, recruitment, IT etc.
• Medical professionals - also known as Medical Indemnity or Medical Malpractice in the medical field, this is often a legal requirement for medical practitioners. You can find more information about Medical Indemnity here
• Creatives - Architects, product designers, graphic designers, photographers etc.

Professional Indemnity insurance premiums are based on your individual activities. Key rating factors for insurers include:

• Your profession and type of advice provided
• Limit of Indemnity required
• Annual fee income
• Size of your contract and clients you work for

Our team can compare prices of Professional Indemnity and other business insurance specifically for you over the phone.

Drivers negligence insurance is an extension to a staff agency or recruitment consultants professional indemnity insurance policy. Drivers negligence provides cover for accidental damage caused to the hiring firms vehicle by the supplied Agency driver, the terms of which are typically set out in the supply agreement for the temporary driver. More information on Drivers Negligence Insurance can be found on our specific scheme page.

You know your business better than anyone, take some time thinking about the largest contract you undertake and the potential losses which could be incurred. Limits of indemnity can also be influenced by:

• Current contractual requirements from your clients or local authority
• Previous contractual obligations
• Regulatory body minimum requirements

For example, you are a sole trader or small business working exclusively with other small businesses. You will probably find that you are safe on a lower level of indemnity than if you are working on large projects with a high financial risk that depends on your professional services.

With professional indemnity, you will also need to speak to your insurance broker about run-off cover. This is because professional indemnity cover is on a claims-made basis, which means it will only respond to claims made while the policy is active. Claims of professional negligence can sometimes take several years to surface. So, if you retire or close your business without run-off cover, you will find yourself uninsured if a negligence claim comes in many years later. Please speak to one of our team to determine what the right amount of run-off cover is that your business needs.

Compare prices of different levels of indemnity with our expert team over the phone.

All business insurance is considered an allowable expense by HMRC. An allowable expense is defined as a running cost for your business that can be deducted from your taxable profit. This might include insurance, accountants, relevant training and more. Remember to keep your policy documents and receipts. Insync will email these to you when you set up your policy. You can find out more here.

Retroactive cover is a way of backdating your policy to cover you for past work your business has undertaken. Retroactive cover will only be valid as long as you are not aware of any potential claims when you take it out. For example, you cannot receive a claim of professional negligence and then take out retroactive cover. Similarly, if a particularly prominent issue arises and you preemptively take out retroactive cover before a claim comes in, this will also not be a valid claim.

As Professional Indemnity is written on a claims-made basis, you may need to purchase a run-off policy. Claims-made basis means that the insurance will only respond to claims that are both:

• For work carried out during the policy period
• Made during the policy period

Run-off cover applies to claims that may arise after you have retired and would be left otherwise uninsured. A run-off insurance premium will typically be lower than your premium while you were actively working. It will only apply to work carried out before the run-off cover starts and will not cover you for any work you take on outside of the original policy period. Your Account Executive will help to craft a suitable run off “Extended Reporting Period” (ERP), in advance of your retirement or business closure.

Most business insurance policies are arranged on an annual basis and professional indemnity is no different. However premium payment can be arranged via a single annual payment, or via credit/debit card, or on monthly instalments via direct debit if preferred.

You are providing professional advice to a client concerning their exciting new product launch. One of your team accidentally attaches a copy of the product spec to another clients' documentation which finds its way to the trade press!

Your client is livid and decides to take legal action. Their company is claiming £100,000 in compensation in addition to considerable costs and expenses relating to their launch event.