Professional Indemnity Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $11

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In the professional services sector, one can be held responsible for any loss a client experienced so long as such loss can be linked to the service provided. Professional indemnity lawsuits can be very problematic as they can result in million-dollar payments. For example, it’s estimated that all recorded medical indemnity cases amounted to $19 billion in tort costs.

Insurance companies offer professional indemnity insurance for lawyers, accountants, bookkeepers, business consultants, engineers, and other people who make money through their expertise. This guide will answer what indemnity insurance is, how much it costs, and the best companies.

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Professional Indemnity Insurance Definition

So what is indemnity insurance? Professional indemnity insurance definition varies. In the simplest sense,  this is an insurance policy that provides protection if there are lapses in the services you provided which caused the client to file a claim.

Note that professional indemnity insurance is also called errors and omissions insurance or professional liability insurance. 

Others, when asked what is a indemnity policy, will answer that it’s a coverage for businesses and professionals who provide services such as consulting, design, accounting, planning, etc. 

Knowing what is an indemnity policy is important. This allows you to get the right coverage that you need, and avoid buying the wrong insurance product which does nothing. Moreover, it gives you an idea of how personal indemnity insurance functions. 

PI Insurance Definition

Aside from asking what is indemnity cover, we’re sure that you’re also wondering what is PI insurance. PI insurance is a short-term for professional indemnity insurance. Others also like to call this PII insurance. Never get confused because these terms pertain to the same policy. 

Common Terms Used In The Language Of Professional Indemnity Insurance 

Now that you know what’s indemnity insurance. Let’s take a look at the common terms used in the language of the policy. 

Insureds

Insureds pertain to the persons or entities who can use professional indemnity insurance in case a covered claim is filed. The language of professional indemnity insurance classifies insureds into the following:

• The person or entity who owns and pays for the premiums of professional indemnity insurance

• Persons or entities named as insureds by the policyholder of professional indemnity insurance

• Employees or associates of the person or entity who pays for the premiums and owns professional indemnity insurance

Policy Duration Or Period Of Insurance

Policy duration or period of insurance means the length of time until professional liability insurance ceases to provide coverage. Professional indemnity cover usually provides coverage for 6 months or 1 year. 

Claim

Claim is an act brought forth against the policyholder or additional insureds due to commission of a peril covered by professional indemnity insurance.

Additional Insureds

Additional insureds are persons who the policyholder allows to be protected by professional insurance indemnity. even though they’re not the one paying for the policy’s premiums. Additional insureds can be unlimited or be limited to one, five, or ten individuals only. This solely depends on which insurance company you decide to work with. 

Defense Costs 

Defense costs pertain to expenses professional indemnity insurance covers on your behalf in case you need to wrap a claim up in a court of law. 

Settlement

Settlement pertains to the amount of money a claimant demands as remuneration for his or her loss, which professional liability insurance can take care of on your behalf.

Endorsement

Professional indemnity insurance can be introduced with an endorsement. An endorsement changes the policy limits or policy duration. 

Policy Limit 

Policy limit is the amount of coverage you can get from professional indemnity insurance. This can be further classified as an aggregate limit or per occurrence limit:

• A per occurrence limit is the amount of coverage professional indemnity insurance grants for each claim filed against you. The per occurrence limit of professional indemnity insurance can never exceed the amount of its aggregate limit 

• Aggregate limit is the total amount of coverage you can get for all claims. This is always greater than per occurrence limit 

What is Indemnity In Insurance?

So what is indemnity in insurance? An indemnity in insurance is the responsibility of one party to reimburse the loss of another party. In businesses, indemnity is often established through contracts. 

How Does Indemnity Insurance Work In Practice?

So how does indemnity insurance work? Your indemnity cover sets into motion when a client files a claim because economic or financial losses were sustained due to lapses you committed while providing a service. Particularly, professional indemnity insurance kicks when you’re liable for committing:

Negligence

You failed to exercise due care or failed to employ appropriate measures to ensure that you completed a service without any errors and avoided causing issues while in the process of doing it. 

Misrepresentation 

You failed to disclose the important points which the client must know before agreeing to employ your services. 

Breach Of Contract 

The client filed a claim because you omitted or failed to follow the conditions you agreed upon when signing the work contract. 

Missed Deadlines 

This pertains to the failure of completing a service on the date agreed by you and the client as stated on the work contract. 

Inaccurate Advice

A client asked for your comments about his or her project. However, it turned out that the methods or processes you told the client to follow resulted in costly issues. 

Breach of Confidentiality 

You divulged the personal information of the client or divulged the whereabouts of his or her project to another party without prior consent. 

Note that these are just the common perils included in the terms of public indemnity insurance. Other types of claims might be covered depending on how the insurance company you’ve chosen designed the policy. 

What Does Indemnity Insurance Cover?

Now that you know how it works, let’s discuss what does indemnity insurance cover. This insurance for professional indemnity will take care of the following expenses if a client files a claim due to the reasons we mentioned in the previous section:

• Indemnification-Business indemnity insurance primarily covers indemnification. In other words, it reimburses the economic or financial losses of the client which resulted the lapses you committed while accomplishing a service 

• Defense costs-If a lawsuit is filed, small business indemnity insurance will take care of attorney fees, court fees, investigation costs, administrative costs, and other legal defense expenses. It will also cover the costs the court orders you to pay if the lawsuit goes in favor of the claimant

How is Commercial Indemnity Insurance Underwritten?

Commercial indemnity insurance is underwritten as a claims-made policy or occurrence policy. 

The majority of commercial insurers sell claims-made professional indemnity insurance. This only provides coverage if you report a covered peril after it happened.  

Carriers that insure large businesses sell professional indemnity insurance as an occurrence policy. It provides coverage if you decide to file a claim after a covered peril happens, long after it has happened, or after the policy duration has expired. 

It’s best if you get occurrence professional indemnity insurance if circumstances allow for it. This type of indemnity insurance provides comprehensive coverage for past, present, and future professional liability claims filed against your business. 

Who Needs Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Those who provide professional services should not think twice about looking for a professional indemnity insurance quote and getting insured. But still, you deserve to know which professions will find this policy absolutely useful. The table below shows who should get a professional indemnity insurance policy and why.

Public Liability And Professional Indemnity Insurance

Professional indemnity insurance is often confused with public liability insurance. It’s important you know how these two policies differ. 

Professional indemnity insurance covers claims filed because there are issues with regard to how you performed a service, which inflicted economic or financial losses to a client. 

On the other hand, public liability insurance doesn’t cover such occurrences. Its coverage applies if your services dealt with bodily injuries or property damage to a client. Public liability insurance also takes care of claims filed due to slander, copyright infringement, libel, liability to rented premises, and products and completed operations. 

What is Medical Indemnity Insurance?

Medical indemnity insurance is a type of professional indemnity insurance that covers exposures unique to medical practitioners such as dentists, dermatologists, surgeons, nurses, reflexologists, and others. 

It kicks in when a patient files a claim for medical practice. The limits of medical indemnity insurance is usually higher than that of the standard professional indemnity insurance.  Now that you know what is medical indemnity insurance, let’s discuss professional indemnity coverage limits next. 

What Indemnity Insurance Coverage Policy Limits Do I Need?

The limits of professional indemnity depend on what kind of professional services a policyholder offers. For example, professional indemnity insurance usually gives higher limits for doctors than for accountants or lawyers.

But still, in practice, the policy limit of professional indemnity insurance starts at $1 million up to $2 million. The policyholder can also get more if they request the indemnity insurance company to increase the policy limit to $5 million or $10 million. But note that if you decide to do this, then the carrier will increase the rates of your quote for professional indemnity insurance.

If you’re running a startup professional services firm, then it’s a good idea to get $1 million indemnity insurance. However, if your firm is doing large-scale operations, then opt to get $5 million minimum coverage.

Professional Indemnity Insurance Cost

Professional indemnity insurance costs vary. Your rates won’t be the same as another policyholder. And so, there’s no fixed price. That’s why each source has its own take on the cost of professional indemnity insurance. 

We looked into the offers of the recommended companies. And based on it, we found out that professional indemnity insurance cost $40 per month or $480 per year. In addition, here's a table showing the rates of the best companies:

To get the best rates, consider comparing personal indemnity insurance quotes online. Look at the rates and offers of different companies to get the best indemnity insurance. Click the “Get Quotes” button on this page to start. 

What Affects The Cost Of Indemnity Insurance?

These are the following factors that affect the cost of indemnity insurance. 

Claims History

Claims history drastically affects the cost of professional indemnity insurance quotes. If claims have been filed against the policy at least once or twice in the last five years, then don’t expect cheap indemnity insurance costs. 

Expertise

How long have you been doing a particular service on behalf of clients? If it’s just recently, then public indemnity insurance quotes won’t be cheap. On the other hand, if you’re experienced in your craft,  then carriers will give you the friendliest rates. 

Deductible

A deductible is an amount of money you have to pay the insurance company once it approves your professional indemnity insurance claim. This can be $250, $500, $1,000, and so on. The higher the deductibles, the cheaper your professional insurance quote will be. 

Nature Of The Services You Offer

If you do complex methods on behalf of clients, then premiums for professional indemnity insurance will be more expensive. This is the core reason why the rates of businesses and professions in the medical field have higher indemnity insurance cost.