As a professional contractor working in a competitive business environment, your focus is likely to be managing your work load, meeting deadlines and delivering high quality expert advice or services or even tendering for the next job. Whether you are a sole trader or part of a larger consultancy, in all probability the last thing on your mind is professional indemnity insurance.
It’s important to remember that if you are in the business of providing specialled skills or expert advice, you have a duty of care to your clients. Because if your client were to suffer a loss due the service or advice you have provided, you could be liable for compensation and their associated costs and that could turn out to be very expensive.
Professional indemnity insurance, who needs it?
We know, that before lawyers, accountants, bookkeepers, health professionals and many others can obtain a license to work in Australia, they are required to have professional indemnity insurance in place.
However, it is worth noting that these days there is a broader view of what constitutes professional advice. Any contractor which provides expert advice or services should now consider professional indemnity insurance as a measure to protect themselves and their business against a potentially financially disastrous claim.
Why is professional indemnity insurance important to me and my business?
Part of running any successful business venture is identifying and managing risk. Whatever your field of expertise, mistakes can happen no matter how diligent you are, and making a mistake in the course of your work could either be a minor inconvenience or result in a claim for negligence.
The potential risk to you and your business of the latter is immense because even if the claim against you is not upheld, your loss of productivity and the cost of defending yourself can be significant.
Taking out professional indemnity insurance could well be the best and most strategic business decision you will ever make. Professional indemnity insurance can help to:
- safeguard your business against the costs of a claim, whether that be against yourself personally, or depending on the situation, against the actions of your partners, employees, or subcontractors;
- manage your exposure to risk for example, loss of data, infringement of intellectual property rights or IT system failure; and
- In the event of a claim you can demonstrate that you have maintained the highest professional standards, by having appropriate legal support and the financial means to get your business back on track as quickly as possible.
Where do I find reliable advice?
To organise a quote go to Contract Cover fill out the quick online form or give their office a call on 1300 GETCOVER (1300 492 862) to speak to member of their real-life team.
Getting online is one of the fastest and most efficient ways contractors can get a quote and arrange their professional indemnity insurance. It doesn’t matter what type of contractor you are, the Contractor Cover quoting system can help you find the best policy for your needs.
