Professional Indemnity Insurance is commonly written on a claims-made basis.

This means the policy that responds is generally determined by when the claim is first made and notified, subject to the policy wording.

How does claims-made cover work? #

A claim may relate to work completed years earlier, but cover can depend on factors including:

• When the claim was first made
• When the insured first became aware of the circumstance
• When it was notified
• Whether the policy was in force
• The retroactive date
• Any prior-known-circumstance exclusions

The retroactive date determines how far back the policy can potentially respond to professional services performed before the current policy period.

Work performed before the applicable retroactive date may not be covered.

Why is continuity important? #

Because claims can arise years after the professional services were performed, maintaining continuous claims-made cover can be important.

Changing insurer does not necessarily remove cover for previous work, provided continuity and retroactive cover are appropriately maintained.

If you retire or stop trading, you may need run-off cover so that claims made after you stop practising can still potentially be notified under a policy.

You can read more about run-off insurance.

For a broader explanation, see our guide to claims-made insurance.

Contact our team if you need help checking your retroactive date or continuity of Professional Indemnity cover.