Navigating Your Professional Indemnity Renewal

Why renew your Professional Indemnity policy?

Professional Indemnity is a claims made and notified contract, designed to protect you against claims or allegations arising from the professional services or advice you provide to your clients/patients.

Claims could arise from past services or advice that you had provided years ago, which is why it is important to maintain an active policy that can respond to a claim.

What does ‘claims made’ mean?

Professional Indemnity being a claims made and notified contract, means that an active policy must be in place to be able to respond to a claim, even if that claim was in relation services/advice you provided years ago. It is today’s policy that will respond to the claim, not the policy you had in the past. Therefore, if you receive a claim today in relation to services/advice you provided years ago, but do not have an active policy today, there would be no policy to claim against, and you would be left having to cover the costs of defence and any related penalty yourself.

Maintaining continuous cover without gaps is essential under a claims made policy, as any break in cover could leave you uninsured for claims arising from past services or advice.

Renewal Obligations

Renewal applications are required to ensure that all information held by the insurer is current and accurate. As your circumstances, scope of practice, or business activities may change over time, the insurer relies on updated disclosures each year to properly assess risk and confirm appropriate coverage.
It also forms part of your duty of disclosure, which requires you to inform the insurer of any changes that could influence their decision to offer or continue cover. Completing the application helps ensure there are no gaps in coverage and that your policy remains valid.

What if I’ve had a previous claim?

In general, insurers require disclosure of any past or current claims, as well as known circumstances that may give rise to a claim, when applying for or renewing a policy. This obligation typically continues for as long as the information is relevant to the insurer’s risk assessment.

There is no universal timeframe after which a claim no longer needs to be disclosed, as this depends on the insurer’s underwriting guidelines. Some insurers may place less weight on older claims, but they may still need to be declared.

 If a claim has been fully resolved for some time, we can approach the insurer to clarify how it will be treated. However, to avoid any risk to your coverage, it is always safest to continue disclosing all relevant claims unless you have written confirmation from the insurer stating otherwise.

Notifications

It is important to notify insurance.com.au as soon as you become aware of any claim, complaint, or circumstance that could potentially give rise to a claim. Early notification allows your insurer to prepare and keep records, which can be critical in ensuring your policy provides protection. Even if you are unsure whether a matter will develop into a formal claim, it is always safer to report it.

Housekeeping tips / things to be mindful of

To help ensure your cover remains effective: