ABSTRACT
There are a number of insurances that firms should consider taking out in order to protect personal or corporate assets. Certain insurance may also be required by contract, professional body regulation or law. This chapter provides a brief explanation of policies commonly affected, with some observations. Unless Clerks of Works are full-time or part-time employees, it is likely they will need to arrange professional indemnity (PI) insurance themselves, regardless of whether they are working as an individual, a partnership or a limited company. It is important to understand that PI insurance works on a ‘claims made' basis of cover. The main consideration for the purchase of run-offinsurance is statutory limitation, and therefore when the expectation would be that all claims against the professional are statute barred. If a retroactive date is applied, there is no cover under the policy for claims arising from work performed before the specified date. A retroactive date of ‘none' is therefore the ideal position.
