PI Insurance Documents
When taking out a
contractor professional indemnity insurance policy for your
contracting business, your will be sent a series of documents that will explain what your insurance covers. It is always important to check your policy wording to ensure that the cover provided by your
contractor professional indemnity insurance, the name/s of the insured and the dates when the policy takes effect and expires are what you are expecting.
The contents of your
contractor professional indemnity insurance policy documents should also be what your agency or client are expecting. If important information is missing or incorrect, you could lose your contract. For example, if the contract requires you to hold £5m of
contractor professional indemnity insurance, the documentation must show that.
No standard format, but common features to check
There is no insurance industry standard format or wording for
contractor professional indemnity insurance documents. And different industries have varying requirements, so an
IT contractor will have a different policy to an
engineering contractor because the risks they face are different.
Your
contractor professional indemnity insurance policy schedule will be personal to your business. It will list the policy number, the name of the insured, your limited company, your address, the nature of your business and the insurance period. You will also find information about the geographical and indemnity limits of your
contractor professional indemnity insurance, alongside the cost.
Contractor professional indemnity insurance definitions, contract and exclusions
The other key elements of your
contractor professional indemnity insurance documentation are the definitions, basis of the contract and exclusions. These will tell you exactly what words and phrases in the policy actually mean. They’ll also show you have a contract with your
contractor professional indemnity insurance provider that, assuming you meet the conditions of the policy, will cover the costs of your defence of a claim.
As their name suggests, the exclusions detail what’s not covered by your
contractor professional indemnity insurance. You’ll find that items such as
employers and public liability, and
product liability, are not covered, because most contractors have separate policies. Do check the exclusions in your
contractor professional indemnity insurance, as you may wish to take out a separate policy for some of these, in addition to your
contractor professional indemnity insurance.