If you or your Organisation provides advice or information on which people may rely, then you owe a duty of care to ensure its accuracy and/or appropriateness to the situation. The fact that you don’t charge any fee for the advice or information doesn’t relieve you from that duty in any way. If someone perceives that they have incurred a financial loss as a result of the advice you give, they may attempt to sue you for that loss. Similarly if you provide a service to “customers” under contract and they perceive that the contract has not been properly or adequately fulfilled they may sue you for the costs of having another contractor complete the work or otherwise correct perceived errors in it.
Professional Indemnity insurance differs from other Insurances in that it is usually written on a “claims made” basis. This means that the cover will operate provided the cover is in force when a claim is intimated and that there was cover at the time that the advice or information was given. A claim could be made at almost any time after the provision of the advice, so you need to be aware that professional indemnity cover needs to run on for several years after you cease to provide advice or information.
For further information or advice about Professional Indemnity Insurance or to get a quote, please contact us
