Do I Need Continuous Cover?
The following policies are arranged on a ‘claims made’ basis:
Once your policy has lapsed you will be unable to make a claim, regardless of whether or not the incident in question relates to a period of time when you have cover. Policies must be renewed in order to maintain cover. Please refer to all policy wordings independently for specific details of coverage, or feel free to contact a member of the team to discuss further.
The following policies are arranged on a ‘claims occurring’ basis:
You must have the policy in place at the time of an incident which gives rise to a claim – assuming cover was in place, a claim can be made against the policy at any time after the policy has lapsed.
For example, if you have an EL policy in place and an employee suffers an injury today, you will be covered even if the employee chooses to bring a claim against you at some point in the future, after the expiry of your policy.
Do I Need To Add ‘Cover For Past Work’ To My Professional Indemnity Insurance?
All PI policies available on our shop, other than those for IT Contractors, have retroactive cover included as standard.
IT Contractors have the option of adding a retroactive extension to their policy.
For IT Contractors, you may need to add ‘Cover For Past Work’ if;
- You have had a gap in your cover.
- If you had a claim relating to a period prior to the inception of the newest policy, then you would not be covered unless you have added retrospective cover. - You have changed insurance provider to Qdos from another company.
- If you had a claim relating to a period prior to the inception of your Qdos policy, then you would not be covered unless you added retrospective cover. - If you have not previously been insured.
- If you have been providing services previously when no insurance has been in place, retroactive cover must be added to your policy to cover claims relating to this work.
Do My Policies Renew Automatically?
None of our policies are automatically renewed. You can renew your policies up to 30 days before they expire, however, a member of our sales team will be in touch to inform you of your renewal and make subsequent reminders.
Should I Keep Cover After My Contract Has Finished?
There is no universally applicable timescale for which you should hold professional indemnity insurance after your contract has finished or your company has closed, although some institutes require that cover is maintained for 6 years. Some contracts, however, may specify that you are required to hold PI for a specified period of time after your contract has finished. This is to ensure that you will be covered if they need to make a claim against you. Therefore, it is important to ensure your company is insured for a sufficient amount of time after closing your company.
With regards to tax enquiry insurance, HMRC can open an enquiry into your company when you are no longer working, and even after it has been wound up. If your company remains open, it is suggested that you maintain some form of tax cover continuously. Once your company has been closed, Qdos generally recommend that cover is kept in place until the end of the tax year following closure of your business.