Here's why more professionals are waking up to the need for a liability insurance cover

With the rise in risk of being sued, more professionals are buying liability insurance which covers their legal costs in defamation and if they lose the case the settlement too. The professional indemnity cover is meant for professionals to cover the liability falling on them because of errors and omissions committed by them whilst rendering professional service. To protect them for future liabilities it is commonly bought by doctors, hospitals, labs, medical professionals, among others..

“More professionals are now buying liability insurance compared to the pre-Covid period. For example, we have seen a significant jump of around 20 per cent in the liability insurance business taken by doctors. With doctors often at the risk of getting sued by patients or their family members, given the nature of their profession, they prefer to have liability insurance to protect them from any future lawsuits,” said Kapil Mehta, co-founder of SecureNow.

V Gurunathan, Director and CEO, TVS Insurance Broking Limited agrees. 

“Yes, definitely more professionals are buying the liability cover.” Gurunathan adds, “The policy covers all sums which the insured professional becomes legally liable to pay as damages to any third party in respect of any error and/or omission on his/her part committed whilst rendering professional service. The interesting thing is that the legal cost and expenses incurred in defence of the case, with the prior consent of the insurance company, are also payable, subject to the overall limit of indemnity, taken as cover. Hence, professional liability is bought," he said.

How costly is the policy? 

“Covers are to be decided based on the risk and the nature of the enterprise or the professionals’ requirement. However, a cover of Rs 5 crores can be obtained for approximately Rs 4 lakhs of premium. Professionals buy depending on their business requirement. The premium will vary from industry to industry and profile to profile,” said Gurunathan. 

With the jump in buying professional liability covers by professionals ranging from doctors, chartered accountants, auditing firms, BPOs, KPOs there has been in increase in demand for the cover. The professional indemnity cover is even taken by manufacturers or plants that execute the designs of their respective principal who provides the designs. 

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