Architects

As todays society is compensation minded, carrying out work for anyone whilst you do not have insurance cover is a risk that is not worth taking. Professional indemnity insurance is an important factor of any business practice and can be used as a positive marketing tool as it puts faith into clients and shows you are an expert. If something doesn't quite go to plan, you are protected and this instantly puts you above your uninsured competitors.

Many architects do not fully understand the importance of Professional Indemnity Insurance. It is important to remember that you are liable for the outcome of any advice given whether you have charged someone for it or not. You still have a duty of care to the client and if there was errors in the advice you gave, you may be sued for negligence.

Acting as an architect is a very satisfying job, but if you get one unhappy client then you may have claims issued against you. There are many things that you can be found liable for, a few common things are:

If you have completely retired from your architects business, there is no need to continue with your PI policy, except for run off cover. Just because you have retired, doesn't mean that you will be guaranteed to be claim free from past work that you have carried out. The majority of claims are issued within a few years of practical completion, but it is still possible for a claim to be back dated further. This is where run off cover comes into place. Run off cover purely protects you against past work that yu have carried out and you are advised to hold cover for at least six years after finishing working in the architects trade. If a claim is made against you after you have retired from your trade and you are found liable, you will be ordered to pay for the legal fees and the cost if putting your mistake right, this includes compensation to other parties.

If you are a practicing architect and registered with the ARB you will need to make sure that you have a Professional Indemnity insurance (PII ) policy in place, which will be a requirement of this regulator.

You would probably need to also consider other insurances along side your professional indemnity to make sure you are covering all your business exposers for other risks such as Public Liability and Employers Liability certainly like your PII you would have to have an employer’s liability certificate displayed in your office even if you only employed part time staff. Professional Insurance Agents can make sure you can obtain a quote or quotations across a wide range of covers and A plus rated insurance providers for your business either online with cheap and very competitive prices or use our full broking service where we will provide you with a insurance report showing you where your business could have a high risk of a claim, we will also explain what products like cyber insurance will cover you for with the NEW GDPR laws all architects should have PII policy in place along with Directors and Officers insurance.

If you would like to know more about Architects Insurance or run off cover, please feel free to get in touch with one of our brokers who will be happy to help you.