The following policies are arranged on a ‘claims made’ basis:
Once your policy has lapsed you will be unable to make a claim, regardless of whether or not the incident in question relates to a period of time when you have cover. Policies must be renewed in order to maintain cover. Please be aware for TEI/TLC there is a period of 30 days following expiry to allow you to report claims.
Please refer to all policy wordings independently for specific details of coverage, or feel free to contact a member of the team to discuss further.
The following policies are arranged on a ‘claims occurring/caused’ basis:
Employers Liability operates on a ‘claims caused’ basis, reacting where the event giving rise to a claim was caused during the period of insurance. Therefore, if an employee develops an illness as a result of their employment, the EL insurance policy that was in place at the time the event causing the illness took place, would react. For example, for mesothelioma claims, if an employee was exposed to asbestos during the time an EL policy was in place but symptoms appeared after the policy lapsed, the EL policy would still react.
Public Liability and Contractors All Risk insurance policies operate on a claims occurring basis, meaning that the policy must be in place at the time of the incident which gives rise to a claim. For Public Liability insurance, the policy in place at the time an illness/injury occurs would react i.e. for an illness when the symptoms occur. For Contractors' All Risk, this means that the policy will react to physical loss or physical damage to insured property which occurs during the period of insurance.
For IT contractors purchasing Professional Indemnity insurance from Qdos, you will see you have the option to add ‘cover for past work’. If this option is not selected you will only be covered for claims arising out of work undertaken after the policy start date.
This is also known as the Retroactive date of your policy. If you select cover for past work, or if you purchase PI and you are not an IT contractor your retroactive date will be shown as “none” on policy documentation. This is to say that cover is not limited to acts or omissions the policyholder makes after a specified date and you would be covered, subject to policy terms and conditions, for all services provided previously.
If you are an IT contractor and require cover for work you have undertaken prior to the policy start date, bearing in mind that previous Professional Indemnity insurance policies you may have held would not react after they expire, it would be prudent to select cover for past work. This will be particularly relevant in the following circumstances:
You have had a gap in your cover.
- e.g. if you have failed to renew a Professional Indemnity insurance policy you may have held in the past.
You have changed insurance provider to Qdos from another company.
- Once your policy with your previous provider has expired, you will be unable to make a claim should the need arise. As such, you should ensure that your new policy covers you for the time you were insured with another provider.
If you have not previously been insured.
- If you have provided services in the past which require cover under your new policy, retroactive cover must be included.
If you choose to pay annually, your policies will not be automatically renewed. You will be able to renew your policies for a further year from 30 days before expiry, however a member of our sales team will be in touch to inform you of your renewal and make subsequent reminders.
If you choose to pay monthly by direct debit, your policies will automatically renew after twelve months. You will be sent confirmation of your renewal four weeks before the anniversary of taking out cover. If you do not wish to renew at this stage, simply contact a member of the team who will be able to assist.
There is no universally applicable timescale for which you should hold Professional Indemnity insurance after your contract has finished or your company has closed, although some institutes and trade bodies require that cover is maintained for 6 years. Additionally, some contracts may specify that you are required to hold PI for a specified period of time after your contract has finished. This is to ensure that you will be covered if they need to make a claim against you. Therefore, it is important to ensure your company is insured for a sufficient amount of time after closing your company.
With regards to Tax Enquiry Insurance (TLC35 and Freelancer Tax Protection), HMRC can open an enquiry into your company even if you are no longer working. If your company remains open during a period where you are no longer contracting, you should consider maintaining some form of tax cover to cover an HMRC enquiry. To discuss your on-going exposure to HMRC enquiries, please contact a member of the team.