Some simple tips to help you with your professional indemnity renewal…

Professional Indemnity is a specialised form of insurance which requires a lot more attention to detail then say a more standard commercial policy for a shop or an office.

It remains a competitive market place (i.e. lots of companies quoting ) for most professions however there are others that have experienced dramatic premium increases in recent times and for some their annual Professional Indemnity Insurance bill has become a much bigger challenge.

Cosmetic Surgeons, Solicitors, Engineers and Architects are professionals that are probably suffering the most in the current market.

The following are some basic tips to help all applicants with their Professional Indemnity application: 

  • The majority of Professional Indemnity Insurance Companies will require a fully completed proposal form before they will even consider providing you with a quotation. When you are completing yours, make sure to take the time to complete each question accurately and don’t be afraid to add some supplementary information when submitting to your broker, if you deem it to be relevant. Professional Indemnity Underwriters are information hungry ! (I know because I used to be one J)
  • Professional Indemnity applications should be submitted in a Professional looking manner. Insurance company underwriters (who decide your premium) use the proposal form and other supplementary information to assess your practice as a risk.  You should take this opportunity to put your best foot forward and present your practice in a manner that will give the underwriter confidence to take on the risk. 
  • Your CV is a very valuable source of information for an underwriter. I would encourage you to include the CV’s of all the professionals included in your professional indemnity policy. Underwriters are looking for both relevant experience and qualifications of the professionals in your practice. If you have experienced and qualified staff be sure to put it down. 
  • If your practice has had claims made against it in previous years, it is important to be able to identify the reasons for the claim. You also need to able to demonstrate  to insurance company underwriters how you have dealt with the issue and identified what caused the claim. It is vital to show how you’ve made the necessary changes to ensure that a similar incident could not arise again (or at a minimum that the chances of a similar incident reoccurring are significantly reduced)

These are simple tips but a large portion of applications I see do not follow these steps.

My advice to you is to take them on board and hopefully you will see some benefit with your renewal premium.

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Dave Walsh - Insurance Broker and former Professional Indemnity Underwriter