Professional Indemnity insurance

To cover your business with Professional Indemnity insurance you can compare quotes with BizCover in just 5 minutes. Answer a few questions about your business to get multiple quotes and buy online and get cover the same day.

If a business owner doesn’t have Professional Indemnity insurance, they may find themselves financially responsible if a client alleges a business made a fault in their work, gave them bad advice, defamed them, or breached intellectual property.

A business owner who doesn’t have Professional indemnity insurance may also find themselves unable to join certain industry associations or work on certain contracts in circumstances where it is a requirement.

While Professional Indemnity insurance is not a legal requirement for New Zealand business owners, it may still be a requirement in certain circumstances such as:

To work on some contracts

Joining some professional associations

To achieve certification

The amount of cover you need will depend on your risk appetite, and a range of factors specific to your business such as: statutory requirements for your profession, the amount of cover required in the contracts you work on, the number of people employed by the business, and the worst scenario claim size.

You can customise your cover amount to fit the needs of your business. BizCover offers 11 different cover limits between $250k and $10m.

If you are a business owner who operates from home, doing work which involves giving advice, Professional Indemnity insurance could help to protect you from associated legal cost of a client alleges your advice has negatively financially impacted them.

Yes, Professional Indemnity can cover sole traders and subcontractors in over 900 occupations.

Yes, in most cases Professional Indemnity insurance is a tax-deductible business operating expense in New Zealand.

If you need to make a claim on your Professional Indemnity insurance with BizCover you can start by visiting our claims page. You will need to fill out a claims form detailing what has occurred, you can also attach relevant documents such as:

• Any written demands or emails you may have received from the third party 
• Any court proceedings 
• Written contracts between you and the claimant. 

Do not admit guilt, fault, or liability, or offer or negotiate to pay a claim without your insurer’s consent.

Professional Indemnity policies may include retroactive cover, which provides protection for claims arising from work completed before the start of the current policy period.
BizCover can offer policies with unlimited retroactive dates, meaning cover is provided for professional services performed at any time in the past, provided the claim is made while the policy is active. However, it should be noted that not every kind of previous service is covered. For example, if a sole trader previously owned a different business, then the policy would not cover that previous business if it was a separate entity. This is true even if the retroactive date is unlimited.

Run-off cover is a policy provision that can help protect you for a set period after you have retired, sold your business, or ceased trading. It is commonly offered with Professional Indemnity insurance policies.

Both Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance can protect your business from the result of a mistake or accident, but the types of faults and accidents they cover are different. 

Public Liability insurance protects you and your business against the financial implications if you are found liable for loss or damage to other people’s property, or cause illness or injury that is not covered by the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC). 

Professional Indemnity Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is an important form of protection for businesses that provide specialist services or professional advice. It is designed to respond to claims against your business for losses as a result of actual or alleged negligent acts or omissions in the provision of your professional service or advice. PI Insurance will also assist with the legal costs associated with responding to or managing claims which are covered by the policy. 

With a Professional Indemnity policy you may be required to notify your insurer when circumstances arise that could result in a claim . You have an obligation to inform your insurer as soon as practically possible once you become aware of any situation which could possibly result in a claim.

Failure to notify your insurer as soon as reasonably possible could lead to your claim being denied. So, even if you’re unsure whether it’s worthy of letting them know or not, it’s in your best interests to do so.

Business owners who buy Professional Indemnity insurance can also consider other popular types of cover such as Public Liability, Cyber Liability, or a Business Insurance Package.