Solicitors Indemnity Insurance
If you are running a solicitors business or are about to start one then you need to ensure you have adequate cover in the form of professional indemnity solicitors insurance against potential mistakes.
It is a compulsory requirement made by the Law Society to have minimum cover of £2 million and if you are operating as a limited liability partnership the minimum is £3 million.
Whatever the nature of your business from conveyancing, personal injury, employment law, litigation or commercial solicitor you are required to have minimum levels of professional indemnity insurance - here's an overview of the types required.
Types of Insurance - Compulsory and Optional
As with all professions a solicitor has direct contact with people and companies even if you are operating alone and don't have staff to control as you are offering professional advice you have a duty of care over the advice provided.
Sometimes that may be incorrect for one reason or another and your client may incur a financial loss and may seek compensation for you. That's where certain insurance policies help mitigate the complete cost of any award made against you by the courts and the legal expenses to cover the costs of any claim.
There are two main types of insurance for solicitors businesses and they are pubic liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance which is compulsory for all solicitors as laid down by the Law Society.
What is solicitors Professional Indemnity Insurance ?
Professional indemnity insurance covers your practice against professional business errors made through the provision of legal advice where your client incurs a monetary loss from the advice provided if it later transpires that the advice was wrong or better advice was available at the time.
Most solicitors businesses have to have the minimum cover of £2million annually but this will depend on the size of your business. Premiums tend to increase when the October deadline approaches and some insurers withdraw their products from the market it's best to renew in plenty of time.
It covers the cost to settle any claims, the legal costs, and usually includes items such as slander, liable and breach of copyright. This insurance is compulsory for all solicitors.
You can get a free professional indemnity quote online in minutes to see how much it's going to cost you each year.
What is solicitors Public Liability Insurance ?
Public liability insurance (or PL) covers you if you deal face to face with the public and cover your business if it causes injury or death to a member of the public or damage to their property and covers the compensation payments and legal fees associated with any claims.
If you are a solicitor who works from home then it's unlikely you'll need this cover but if you go to your clients' offices, place of work or their own home business then it's worth thinking about. Of course most solicitors run their own practice and deal with the public daily so it's something almost as a must have insurance.
It's not a legal requirement but most businesses get cover of £2million as the cost of claims is increasing rapidly.
You can get a free public liability quote online in minutes to see how much it's going to cost you each year.
Office Insurance
These days the cost of equipment in your solicitors office is very high so having office insurance is critical to cover against theft and damage from external factors.
Some policies also allow you to insure against loss of earnings due to business interruption such as flooding or storm damage. Additionally, by choosing office insurance some insurers also included professional indemnity and professional indemnity cover as well.
You can get a free office insurance quote online in minutes to see how much it's going to cost you each year.
So those are the main solicitors insurance products you should consider as life as a solicitor. Compare quotes online to get the best deal but check the small print for any exclusions or excesses you may have to pay.