What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?

A reasonably common claim that the Rhino Trade Insurance team hear about is when a tradesman allegedly gave dodgy advice to a customer. You might feel pretty aggrieved at this thought, and even with the best intentions, the most experienced among us can get things wrong. That’s where one of our popular (but under that radar) cover options comes into play. 

Let’s spend the next five discussing Professional Indemnity Insurance for your business.

What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Having Professional Indemnity Insurance in place protects a self-employed tradesman or business that offers design advice, expertise or consultancy to any of their clients. Whilst often overlooked as a policy that isn’t needed, if you ever find yourself in hot water due to offering faulty guidance, you’ll be glad you have it in your back pocket. 

What does Professional Indemnity Insurance cover?

There are many instances where this type of insurance gets to work. You could be running a thriving building business and offer design work or architectural services on the side. However, should these designs go south, your business could find itself in a spot of bother and face a claim. 

Likewise, if you are a contractor working in construction and lose vital drawings or sensitive site data, you may be held liable and have a nasty letter coming your way. 

Whatever it is, we know that even the best of us get things wrong - human beings weren’t designed to be perfect. But that’s where a Professional Indemnity Insurance policy with Rhino will help you in case of an emergency. 

How much Professional Indemnity Insurance do I need?

In truth, it all depends on your business operations. For example, you may be quoted higher than a plasterer if you run a construction business. It’s best to remember that our super-speedy online quote engine will consider the size of your business, how many people you have working on a job, and what kind of work you undertake, amongst other things. 

To get an idea of the cost, Professional Indemnity Insurance with Rhino Trade Insurance, where you get a maximum cover level of £2 million, costs just £19.60 a month or £235.20 a year. Remember, this covers you for any legal costs and damages caused, which can sometimes cost the equivalent of a jewellery heist. 

Moreover, we have designed our policies with self-employed tradespeople in mind. However, we can also create business-specific cover options so that you get a tailored approach to your Professional Indemnity Insurance policy.  

Is Professional Indemnity Insurance mandatory?

Unlike paying your taxes (which is sadly a legal requirement), having a policy of this nature in place for your business isn’t obligatory. However, the smart money will have a Professional Indemnity Insurance policy open just in case the proverbial hits the fan.  

One common thread with this type of insurance is that to gain approval from certain awarding bodies and professional organisations. You will need to have some level of cover in place. Suppose you undertake work with local governments, councils and charities. In that case, they can also demand that you have all the relevant insurance in place to do the job, including Professional Indemnity Insurance. 

Look at it as a healthy investment in the future of your business. Having a policy like this can help create further business opportunities for you, helping you get closer to that Ferrari, beach holiday or new home. It also covers you if any large claims come to you that you need to defend in court. 

Do I need Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Whatever you trade, having Professional Indemnity Insurance helps protect you in case of faulty design advice, incorrect specifications and more that you provide as part of your service. 

Imagine if you gave unintentional dodgy advice that resulted in a financial loss for a customer. They could decide to claim against you and take the case to court. 

What’s worse is that these kinds of claims often come a long time after you’ve initially advised the client - so it’s best to get yourself covered right away.  

Common examples of where Professional Indemnity Insurance helped a Tradesperson

Rhino Trade Insurance provides cover for many different trades. What’s more, we have plenty of experience in this field and have collected a handful of examples to take a look at:

• A reputable plumber installs a water system in a new-build home that doesn’t comply with building regulations. Sadly, the system needed to be taken out and completely redone. 
• An electrician designs and installs a backup generator for the local grocery shop (think Arkwright’s from Open All Hours). When the main power fails, the backup generator sadly doesn’t kick in either, which causes all of the stock to waste and close the shop for a few days. 
• A builder designs and builds an extension to a home that isn’t fit for purpose, and the job fails before the job is finished. The work needs redoing, ultimately placing the customer in debt and the builder in court. 

Why choose Rhino for your Professional Indemnity Insurance?

With over 20 years of knowledge in the trade insurance game and experience with thousands of different tradesmen and women, we are confident that our handpicked and carefully designed insurance policies will suit your business immediately. 

Not only have we spent many hours honing our craft and creating the best possible cover for you, but we have also managed to get our insurance down to a market-leading price, better than most of our competitors. The cherry on the cake? We also have a personality, don’t believe us. Check out our Instagram channel. 

With that said, you want to have an insurer that you can easily speak to and be on a first-name basis. Our excellent team is based in Leicester - Jamie Vardy's country. If you want to get a quote or to discuss your options, call us now at 0116 243 7904 or fill out our super-simple online form.