Aviva Insurance has announced that it will stop writing professional indemnity (PI) business for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 1 April 2013.

This will affect around £ 35 m of insurance premium

Read the rest of this entry »

R K Henshall & Co Ltd , the holding company behind Hensure Business Insurance, is pleased to confirm that they have now joined The Brokerbility Group.  Brokerbility is now represented by 34 offices throughout the UK , employing more than 1000 people and a Gross Written Premium of circa   £ 465 million. R K Henshall & Co Ltd commenced trading in 1976 and since then have developed a reputation as one of the leading independent Insurance Brokers that offers clients access to a wide range of general insurers and to Lloyds of London.

John Henshall, Managing Director of R K Henshall and Co Ltd comments’ This is a great opportunity for R K Henshall and Co Ltd to push forward. The Brokerbility Group is a highly respected organisation within the Insurance Industry and we are looking forward to working with them and growing with them’

Read the rest of this entry »

Professional Indemnity claims against Accountants can occur for a number of reasons.  One particular claimsarose against an accountant who failed to lodge tax returns on behalf of their client, leading to penalty charges and interest charges being charged by the Tax authorities . The Accountant’s client sought to recover the charges from the Accountant due to his error in not lodging the returns on time.

Hiscox has developed five broker only professional indemnity products in the areas of interior and/or garden design, coaching and education, green consultancy, training, facilities management and health and safety and will be available  from early July.  At no additional cost,  policy wordings will be enhanced to recognise the broader impact a claim could have on a business.

LV Insurance are investing in bespoke fraud detection systems and in developing the technical capabilities of their front line claims handlers in an attempt to tackle the issue of rising claims fraud. They investigate all types of suspected fraudulent claims including linked and organised fraud, Commercial, Property, Motor, Pet and Travel. The profiles that they investigate range from ‘bogus’ vehicle passengers submitting injury claims, staged accidents, ghost accidents and exaggeration.

Professional Indemnity Claims against Consulting Engineers could arise in a number of ways. For example, a recent claim was made against an Engineer who provided the wrong specification for the electricity supply to site contractors. Alterations and a temporary generator were required at total costs of £28,000.

An Architect signed the practical completion certificate on a residential new build job. There were dozens of snagging problems that arose which the contractors failed to resolve. Claim settled at £5,000.

As reported in the news, The Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is due to take effect on 1st April 2013 is still under consideration, however it is likely to have a substantial effect on the defence of Professional Indemnity Claims.

Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA’s) and After the Event (ATE) premiums taken out after 1st April 2013 will no longer be recoverable by the winning party from the losing party. (No win no fee companies). Professional Indemnity Claims and this type of funding puts pressure on defendant’s and their insurers to settle claims where there may be little merit in the allegations.

Read the rest of this entry »

It is true to say that most classes of liability cover are still competitively priced and there are still good deals to be had in the insurance market. Risks that continue to show a positive approach to risk management and have a good claims record will probably continue to benefit from low premiums . There is a growing feeling in the insurance market though that poor quality risks with a poor claims record may start to find life getting gradually tougher over the next 12 to 24 months !

If you decide to ‘Shop Around’ at renewal of your Professional Indemnity policy then you should ensure that the quotes that you receive are on a “like for like” basis. Care should be taken to ensure that the policy cover’s all of your Civil Liabilities rather than just your error’s and omissions. It is also important to check the limits of indemnity and check whether it is on an “ Any one/ each and every claim” or “in the aggregate” basis. You should also check the excesses applicable under the policy as they can vary dramatically from one insurer to the other.