Professional Indemnity Insurance can protect you from some unique risks your business faces when giving advice or providing a service.
If it’s found you made a mistake that caused injury, damage or financial loss to your client, you could face legal fees and damages. Professional Indemnity Insurance is designed to cover these costs and stop them putting pressure on your business’s cash flow.
This protection is designed for businesses that give advice or provide a service. There are two types of cover, one for professionals and consultants (like accountants, graphic designers, fitness instructors, life coaches, interior designers and journalists) and one for IT and communications (like IT business analysts, IT software sales consultants, IT training and education specialists, IT hardware engineers or IT project managers).
As a professional, mistakes can happen at work. Professional Indemnity Insurance can help prevent certain mistakes from costing your business if a client makes a claim against you.
For example, a claim could be made if you accidentally:
Negligence and breach of duty claims can be expensive, stressful and time-consuming for your business. You could end up paying for damages, settlements or compensation to your client, fees for your legal defence, claims investigations, public relations consultants and more.
These can happen regardless of your skill or time spent working in the industry. If your business ever ends up in a legal dispute with a client, your Professional Indemnity Insurance will help cover the costs of defending the dispute so you’re not alone paying out of your own pocket.
Professional Indemnity Insurance is designed to protect you against claims of negligence or breach of duty as a result of professional advice or services you’ve provided to a client.
There are professionals in many different industries who give advice to clients, like accountants, architects, graphic designers, marketing consultants, personal trainers, fitness instructors and life coaches. This also includes consultants working in IT, like business analysts, hardware engineers and project managers.
If your business offers advice, then clients rely on your professional expertise and services to be correct and beneficial to them. If a client is ever dissatisfied with your services and takes legal action against your business, Professional Indemnity Insurance can help protect your finances – and bring you peace of mind.
There are some things we don’t cover
Breach of duty
For example, if you build an online checkout for a client’s website and it’s not secure.
Intellectual property infringement
For example, if you accidentally breach copyright in designs you give to a client.
Lost or damaged documents
Like if you lost your client’s financial documents after they’d given them to you to look after.
Breach of privacy or confidentiality
Like if you accidentally reveal a client’s personal information.
Defamation
For example, if someone claims that your TV ad damaged their reputation.
Reputation repair
We cover the cost of a PR consultant to help repair your reputation after a claim against you1.
There are some things we don't cover
Existing circumstances
We don’t cover claims or circumstances you know about before your policy starts.
Contractual obligations
We don’t cover costs or expenses caused by you complying with contractual obligations you’ve chosen to enter into with a client.
Intentional damage
We don’t cover intentional damage you cause to a third party.
Bankruptcy
We don’t cover claims made against you because your business went bankrupt or becomes insolvent.
Add these when you get your
Professional Indemnity Insurance quote
Public Liability Insurance
Add protection for you and your business against claims of negligence, like if a customer slips on a spill and injures themselves in your shop.
For full details including limits, conditions and exclusions, read these policy documents
Professional Indemnity Insurance can help provide financial cover if an unexpected event creates additional costs for your business.
For example, if you have an active insurance policy with $5 million of Professional Indemnity cover and one of your clients makes a covered claim against your business, your insurance could cover you for up to $5 million for loss or damage costs resulting from the claim.
You’ll only be covered for events that are included in your Professional Indemnity Insurance policy, so it’s important to choose the right type and level of cover to suit your business’s needs.
Professional Indemnity Insurance can protect you and your business’s finances if you give advice or provide a service.
For example, if you’re a freelance personal trainer who gives their clients advice about exercise and diet, or a real estate agent who’s selling a house on behalf of their client.
You can choose to cover your business for up to $1 million, $2 million, $5 million or $10 million.
Choose your level of cover when you get a quote.
The cost depends on many things including the size of your business and the amount of cover you choose.
The quickest way to find out how much it costs is to get a quote.
Public Liability Insurance protects you in case of damage or injury caused by your staff or on your business premises. For example, if you’re a tradie working on a job site and someone trips over your tools and hurts themselves.
Professional Indemnity Insurance protects you in case of damage caused by your negligent or mistaken professional advice or services. For example, if you offer tax advice as part of your accounting practice which turns out to be incorrect and negatively impacts your client.
You can get Public Liability Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance, or both when you get a quote.
Every business is different, so it is generally up to you to choose how much you cover your business for. Depending on the industry you work in, you may also be governed by certain guidelines, standards or regulations when it comes to cover limits. Some industries require you to have a minimum amount of cover to join certain member associations (for example, $1 million of Professional Indemnity Insurance cover).
With our Professional Indemnity Insurance, you can choose a cover limit of up to $1 million, $2 million, $5 million or $10 million.
If you own a business, you may become liable for damages to another property or person caused by your business. You could also face claims of negligence or breach of duty in providing a professional service or advice.
Because of this, professionals may want to consider getting Professional Indemnity Insurance to help protect their business. When advice is your livelihood, this type of cover can offer peace of mind, security and protect your valuable reputation.
If you have Professional Indemnity cover as part of your Business Insurance policy with us and need to make a claim, we’re here for you. We offer claims lodgement over the phone, so you can make your claim as soon as possible. For more information about making a claim, you can visit our Claims page.
Mix and match our policy cover options and pay your premium by the month at no extra cost
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This is general advice only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs (“your personal circumstances”). Before using this advice to decide whether to purchase a product, you should consider your personal circumstances and the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determinations available from this website.
