PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY
Chairman
Professional Insurance Agents
As chairman of Professional Insurance Agents [PIA], Graham Hearsey leads one of the first companies to build and launch online multi-quote-and-buy solutions for brokers and underwriters across the globe with the aim of providing the tools they need to compete against direct writers, aggregators and networks with similar trajectories.
Hearsey and his partners set up PIA at a time when general insurance was not as heavily regulated. The company expanded its services to offer coverage for most professional classes following increasing demand from professional groups and regulators for a professional indemnity policy to become part of standard compliance requirements.
Currently, PIA offers an online wholesale broker service that provides more than many other organisations, extending covers from six PII providers and three D&O insurers, in addition to a free quote-and-buy/bind facility and a plug-and-play platform for websites.
IBUK: Is there a profession that you find to be more underinsured than others when it comes to PI coverage?
Graham Hearsey: There are some professions that clearly look to obtain the lowest level of indemnity when purchasing their covers, and some don’t bother at all; however, many professions have to buy at least the minimum levels set by their authorising bodies. It has therefore been argued that all the authorising bodies for various professions should increase their minimum to at least £1m. As legal costs and awards are going out of control, a small indemnity level of £100,000 to £250,000 for whatever business or size you are is just not appropriate nowadays.
IBUK: What are the biggest risks facing professionals, and why do they need PI cover?
GH: The real danger to businesses and professions nowadays is the increasing regulations we face at a corporate level: cyber attacks, GDPR and the increasingly litigious mentality/environment. Although for professionals, their main protection will be their professional insurance policy, unless it incorporates covers such as cyber and D&O, they will also need to consider adding these covers. That said, the main financial risk is the cost of defending a claim, whether it’s the business’s fault or not, and, in the event that the error/ omission is proved to be their fault, the cost of any damages awarded. Why do we need PII? To sleep easy and protect the very business you have worked so hard to build.
