Industries / Professional services
Professional services: the covers businesses usually need
Accountants, lawyers, architects, engineers and surveyors are paid for advice, design and certification. Their largest exposure is a client who says that advice cost them money.
What can go wrong
The exposures that drive claims in professional services.
An error in the advice
A tax return lodged late, a structural calculation that is wrong, or a boundary set out in the wrong place. The client claims for the loss, often years after the work.
Claims that arrive late
Professional indemnity is written on a claims-made basis, so the policy in force when the claim is made responds, not the one in force when the work was done. A break in cover can leave a firm without a policy for old work.
Client money and data
Firms hold tax file numbers, trust money and bank details. A fake change-of-bank-details email can redirect a client payment, and a data breach brings notification costs.
The firm and its principals
Partners and directors can be sued personally by staff, regulators or creditors, separately from claims about the advice itself.
NoteSome professions must hold professional indemnity insurance as a condition of registration, for example tax agents registered with the Tax Practitioners Board and solicitors holding a practising certificate. The industry lookup asks about this.
Covers the lookup lists
What the industry lookup lists for typical businesses in this industry.
These are the results of the Cuttleflow industry lookup (release exp-0.7.0) for the businesses below, before any questions are answered. Answers about staff, vehicles, premises, contracts and the state change the list. Covers the lookup lists only as “consider” are left out here. Every class on the Commons wordings is available on Cuttleflow Go; “On Cuttleflow Go” links to the class. A Marketplace class is also placed by brokers through the Cuttleflow Marketplace.
- Accountants · APRA AACCNT Accountancy - Other
- Bookkeepers · APRA ABOOKP Bookkeeping
- Lawyers · APRA DSOLIC Solicitors
- Architects · APRA KACHTS Architects
- Structural engineers · APRA LSTENG Engineer - Structural
- Surveyors · APRA MLDSUV Land Surveyors
| Cover | Lookup tier | Where it is written | Listed for | Why it is listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workers compensation | Must have Compulsory where it applies | Statutory scheme (depends on state) | All of these businesses | Employers must hold workers compensation cover in every state and territory, apart from limited wage-based exemptions. Depends on: how many employees does the business have, not counting owners. |
| General liability | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go | All of these businesses | Almost every business deals with customers, visitors or other people's property, so it can be held liable for injury or damage. |
| Professional indemnity | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go | All of these businesses | This occupation gives advice or a professional service that clients rely on, so an error can cause them financial loss. |
| Cyber | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go · Marketplace class | All of these businesses | Financial and IT occupations hold sensitive client data and systems access. |
| Commercial motor | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go · Marketplace class | All of these businesses | The business owns or leases fewer than ten vehicles used for work. Depends on: how many vehicles does the business own or lease for work; does the business own or lease vehicles used for work. |
| Motor fleet | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go · Marketplace class | All of these businesses | Ten or more vehicles can be insured as a fleet, priced partly on the fleet's own claims record. Depends on: how many vehicles does the business own or lease for work. |
| Management liability | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go · Marketplace class | All of these businesses | Companies and associations have directors or committee members who can be personally liable, and every employer can face employment claims. Depends on: what type of entity is the business. |
| Business package | Recommended | On Cuttleflow Go · Marketplace class | All of these businesses | The business has premises, stock or equipment that fire, storm, theft or water damage could destroy, and it would lose income while it rebuilds. Depends on: does the business have premises, stock or equipment at a fixed site. |
Classes on the Commons wordings
Classes for this industry on Cuttleflow Go.
Brokers
Win clients in professional services
Put the industry lookup and an indicative price on your own channels, and take leads from the public marketplace when it opens. Place every risk once, with every market in the class, on the same wording.
Underwriting agencies
Write this business on Cuttleflow Go
Your own rates and rules on the Commons wordings, quoted to your brokers from day one and to Marketplace brokers when the class opens.
General information. This page is not advice about any business and does not recommend any insurer or product. The lookup’s rules are a first draft and have not yet been reviewed by an underwriter or a lawyer. Check each cover against the circumstances and the policy wording, and check compulsory insurance with the regulator in the relevant state. Industry classes: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZSIC 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0), © Commonwealth of Australia. Professional occupations: APRA National Claims and Policies Database.
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