If you give advice, or provide a specialist service, you need this cover.
It should never be taken for granted that negligence, errors or omissions will always be covered under a PI policy. Each incident will be assessed on its own merits to determine whether the act was an insurable event under the policy and subsequent policy response.
Professional Indemnity
How Much Cover is Enough?
When deciding on what Limit of Indemnity is best, it's important to remember that the limits on most PI policies include defence costs (fees and all other expenses that are incurred in order to assist with the investigation or settlement of a claim) as well as representation costs in an inquest, an inquiry or any other legal proceedings in respect of matters which have a direct relevance to the claim.
Legal fees can quickly mount up, possibly eroding the remaining cover for damages or settlements. Given the fact that premiums are often on a sliding scale (the premium doesn’t double every time the limit doubles), it’s worthwhile to get several options of limits before making a decision.
It should never be taken for granted that negligence, errors or omissions will always be covered under a PI policy. Each incident will be assessed on its own merits to determine whether the act was an insurable event under the policy and subsequent policy response.
Features and Benefits
Our Professional Indemnity cover protects you against compensation claims arising from, but not limited to:
- Breach of professional duty
- Breach of warranty
- Breach of trust committed in good faith
- Breach of confidentiality
- Defamation and/or injuries
- Destruction or loss of any documents entrusted to the professional insured
- Defence costs that may arise in the event of a third-party claiming against the insured
- Fraud and Dishonesty
- Infringement of copyright
- Unintentional infringement of intellectual property rights
- Wrongful Act, error or omission
South African legislation imposes strict duties of care and diligence on company directors. No one should take on the responsibility of a company director without first having insisted on having appropriate Directors and Officers in place. We can assist.
Directors & Officers Liability
- Insolvency hearing cover.
- Cover for the company following a crisis loss.
- Enhanced protection to directors for claims brought in bankruptcy proceedings.
- Mitigation costs and prosecution costs to prevent civil liability actions.
- Enhanced bodily injury and property damage coverage for directors.
South Africa has a volatile and active labour environment with the CCMA and Bargaining Council receiving thousands of cases per month. Products are available that can assist with legal defence costs , awards and advice.
Employment Practice Liability
Insurance protection for employers covering:
- Legal Fees
- Damages
- Awards
- Settlements
Following an allegation of:
- Unfair Dismissal
- Sexual Harassment
- Discrimination
- Failure to Employ
Brought about at:
- The CCMA
- Bargaining Council
- Labour Court
- Arbitration Proceeding
Employers who have EPL cover under Directors and Officers (D&O) policies should be warned that D&O policies generally cover directors and not the company. Virtually all labour cases are brought against the company. EPL cover under a D&O policy may also be more restrictive.
Medical Practitioners cannot afford to practice without ensuring that they are adequately insured against malpractice claims.
Medical Malpractice
This policy provides comprehensive cover in respect of:
- Medical Malpractice
- Public Liability
- Products Liability
- Professional Indemnity
Cover for Medical Practitioners is provided under:
- Medical Malpractice
- Professional Indemnity
Commercial Crime
Employee dishonesty is, unfortunately, all too often a factor when companies are defrauded. Protection against the repercussions of such employee crime is available.
This policy covers your business against the following risks:
- Employee dishonesty – your staff stealing from you, alone or in collusion with others
- Computer fraud – theft by the accessing of the insured party’s computer system by any person
- Computer virus – loss sustained directly because of a computer virus
- Electronic data loss – loss sustained directly because of the malicious alteration or destruction of data
- Extortion – loss as a result of any employee being threatened with physical harm
Your business’s cash flow, investors’ confidence, your reputation and your employees’ morale can all be impacted by fraud. This often isn’t a once off occurrence and companies can be subject to repeated instances of fraud committed by their employees, business partners and sometimes a collusion of both.
FAQs
What you need to know …
These are just some of the most frequently asked questions we receive about our Construction & Engineering cover.
A derivative action is when the shareholders sue a third party (such as a director or officer) on behalf of the company. A class action is when a group of people take a person (such as a director or officer) to court. The new South African Companies Act under s157 properly introduces the concept of a class action into South African law. Any of the following persons may apply for a class action: Any person considered in the Act or any person acting on behalf thereof Any class a affected persons Any person acting in the public interest The application can be made to a Court, the Companies Ombud, the Take-Over Panel, or the Commission. The application for a class action has been simplified, in that one is no longer required to act through a liquidator. Derivative actions and class actions should both be covered under the D&O policy.
Your company's Memorandum of Incorporation (previously Articles of Association) may or may not allow a company to indemnify its directors and officers. There is no guarantee however that the company will pay the heavy financial burden of defence costs in prolonged legal proceedings or damages awards. Your company may also not have the financial resources to indemnify the directors and officers in the event of a claim.
If you’re closing your company or are a sole practitioner/partnership and are retiring from practice that doesn’t mean claims will not arise on work undertaken in prior years. Whilst the majority of claims are made quite quickly, it’s still possible for a claim to go back many years, and for this reason most insurance professionals will recommend a minimum of six years' run off cover. If no policy is in place at the time a claim is made, then you may face liability which can not only be traumatic, but financially devastating.
There’s no right solution – some argue that you should ‘buy what you can afford’. In other cases, your customer will specify a minimum level of cover. In any event, you should assess the greatest loss that might result from a mistake on any particular project/contract. Ultimately, no one will take on your responsibility to ensure you have enough cover but you should carefully review this area with your broker.
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