Insurance for Sole Traders

thegills

Hi,
Are there any sole traders out there who have information on Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance for sole traders. Perhaps you needed to provide levels of insurance for certain contracts you might have worked on?
Thegills

davelerave

reci members-i'm one- have public and product liability(6.5mEuro)
and employer's liability if needed.depending on who you're workin' for or what you're doin you may need it

davelerave

Originally posted by davelerave
reci members-i'm one- have public and product liability(6.5mEuro)
and employer's liability if needed.depending on who you're workin' for or what you're doin you may need it

'you may need it'-public liability that is,dunno much more really

Victor

PL needs to cover the likely figure for the largest payout. Currently these stand at circa €4m and rising.

PI needs to cover the likely worst case if you mess up. If you are a engineer, that is the building falling down and everyone being killed / maimed. For a quantity surveyor it is not getting the budget right (+15% of budget). Professional organisations will often have recommended / obligatory figures.

De Rebel

Originally posted by thegills
Hi,
Are there any sole traders out there who have information on Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance for sole traders. Perhaps you needed to provide levels of insurance for certain contracts you might have worked on?
Thegills

What exact information are you looking for?

PL is generally not a problem, unless you are doing the pyrotechnics for a Madonna concert or something like that. The premium and level of cover depends entirly on your industry. Cover will typically vary from E5m to E30m. The basis of calculation also depends on your industry; turnover and contract values would be typical basis, and then an industry related multiplier is used to calculate your premium.

PI cover is a different issue. If you are an Obstetrician you will pay EUR150,000 anually for PI cover. More if you are just starting out. If you are a gardener then the premium will probably be no big deal at all. The key factors again are the industry you are engaged in and the likely hood that you will damage/destroy someone's business. The traditional advantages of being a sole trader are being whittled away and the need for PI cover is one of the issues that might push you to convert to a Limied Company.

Excesses are also an issue. if you accept a higher excess, you will lower the premium - the downside is that the excess is the amount you pay in the case of each and every claim.

To give you any more advice you would need to give more detail about your industry and the scale of your operation. You might be better off speaking to a reputable broker. Or better still, speak to 3 or 4. And pick a cross section, 1 or 2 local one man shows, and 1 or 2 of the majors - Aon, Tyrrell Coakley, Coyle Hamilton etc.

thegills

Thanks Guys.
I am contacting to be a telecoms consultant. The only risk attached to me is bad advice and intellectual property. The contract I am on will have Project Management Consultants and Civil contractors. Both have high levels of insurances in place as the highest risks lie with them. My employer howvere has asked me to get Public Liability and PI insurance. I'm new to the game so appreciate the advice.
Cheers.

Victor

Oh, beware of any collateral or other warranties you sign.

Originally posted by thegills
I am contacting to be a telecoms consultant.

What does a "telecoms consultant" do exactly

Originally posted by thegills
My employer

Do you mean "Employer" as in client? Or your boss (if this is not the case, you might not need PI, as an master is responsible to other for the actions of his agents).

Originally posted by thegills
My employer howvere has asked me to get Public Liability and PI insurance.

What level are they looking for PI? Do not admit to them that you have a certain level of PI other than to say you are "covered" (admission of a specific level may void the cover).

ednwireland

I got qouted about 1200 euros for proffesional idemnity (more than i could afford) cover upto about 325000
trying to be an IT consultant working from home couldn't get public liability for home office or working on site from anyone.

De Rebel

Originally posted by ednwireland
I got qouted about 1200 euros for proffesional idemnity (more than i could afford) cover upto about 325000
trying to be an IT consultant working from home couldn't get public liability for home office or working on site from anyone.

Sadly, the PI quote does not seem unreasonable, given the litigatious market that we operate in.

Surprising that you can't get PL. Normally not an issue. An option might be Hibernian's Home Office policy, which is an extension of their House Insurance policy. It offers PL, EL and a number of other sections which may or may not be relevant to your case.

www.telework.ie (1800 421 426) might be worth contacting.

ednwireland

had hibernian home insurance until last year and they point blank refused to give PL despite me filling the form out with the tick box which says PL/ Home office insurance available at a nominal extra cost! so renewal came up and they racked up the insurance and still didn't give me home office PL cover so now i'm with someone else.
I think they make the whole thing up as they go along i seriously doubt any irish based company is interested in their customers at all

De Rebel

Originally posted by ednwireland
had hibernian home insurance until last year and they point blank refused to give PL despite me filling the form out with the tick box which says PL/ Home office insurance available at a nominal extra cost! so renewal came up and they racked up the insurance and still didn't give me home office PL cover so now i'm with someone else.
I think they make the whole thing up as they go along i seriously doubt any irish based company is interested in their customers at all

Strange. My policy is with them. It is actually a second policy booklet, but it is linked into the house insurance. The renewed last year with no issues, and even accepted a number of changes at the time. Only thing is I would not describe the premium as nominal, or anything like it either!.

ednwireland

yeh it was weird cos i have another house which is rented out and they gave me PL at no extra cost !!!!!
Premiums here in donegal aren't that bad but seeing as they wouldn't insure servers and stuff i gave up on them
the only thing is i was going through a broker so maybe theres a difference there.
mind you to be honest the insurnace companies don't seem to have any standard practice except charge as much as they think they can get away.

De Rebel

Originally posted by ednwireland
the only thing is i was going through a broker so maybe theres a difference there

I actually checked with my own broker today and he says the scheme is fully available. He did mention that a possible issue on the PL front is that the home office PL is really intended for people who are working at home, as opposed to people who work from home. That makes some sense.

You seem to be getting different answers on a number of fronts, i didn't have too much of a problem with hardware on the property section, no with goods in trust

A good broker should be able to naviage you through this stuff.

I was actually going to post and ask if you had gone to the insurer direct - because when you do that your probably dealing with some jacinta in a call centre who knows motor and household and would have neither intrest or inclination to be bothered trying to add pl/el and so on.

Anyway I trust that you got it sorted in the end. Any harm asking who you went with? Was it an adjunct to a household policy or a full commercial combined job?

ednwireland

actually didn't bother the business can't fund anything at the moment (try selling internet security skills in the north west at the moment) i was setting up my own company at the time and was trying to do the right thing but gave up in the end, no funds in the bank at the moment to do it, luckily i dont employ anyone so dont need employers liabilty.

davelerave

should be no prob with pl in your job

The Corinthian

Originally posted by ednwireland
I got qouted about 1200 euros for proffesional idemnity (more than i could afford) cover upto about 325000

Unfortunately, that level of cover is pretty worthless. € 325,000 may not even cover your legal fees, let alone damages, if there’s a judgement against you.