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Is your insurance ‘any one claim’ or ‘in the aggregate’?

31/08/2011

Choosing between 'any one claim' or 'in the aggregate' PI insurance is a matter of what's best for your business.

Have a look at your professional indemnity insurance schedule. Specifically the bit about the level of cover.

Is it 'any one claim' or 'in the aggregate'? And why does it make a difference?

Well, these terms relate to how much money your insurer pays if there's a claim.

That matters because it could be the difference between your insurer paying all, none, or just part of a claim.

What's best? Any one claim or in the aggregate?

Let’s say your professional indemnity insurance policy has £1m level of cover. If a valid claim is made against you, the insurer pays up to £1m in damages and legal costs. Simple enough.

If your policy is in the aggregate, £1m is the maximum your insurer pays for all accumulated claims in a policy year, including associated legal costs. Imagine your insurer has set aside £1m with your name on it, and every expense to do with your claims comes from it.

If your policy is any one claim, £1m is the maximum your insurer pays for each claim in a policy year, with each claim's legal costs paid in addition, and to the same level of cover. There's no limit to the number of claims you can make, either.

For example, let's say you’re unlucky enough to have three claims made against you, and in total they cost £1.4m to put right. If your aggregate level of cover is £1m, you’re looking at a £400k shortfall. Ouch.

If your policy is any one claim, that same £1m level of cover applies to each of the three claims. Assuming none of them individually cost more than £1m to fix, there's no shortfall.

Plus, as legal costs are covered separately, each claim effectively has a £2m total fund, split half and half for damages and legal costs.

More is more

As you can see, an any one claim policy gives you more protection. There’s no danger of cover ‘running out’ the same way an aggregate policy could (although the chances of that happening are pretty slim).

Because of this, any one claim policies usually cost a bit more to buy. Although for many, at least those in low-risk occupations, just having professional indemnity insurance is usually enough and an aggregate policy fits the bill nicely.

Which type of policy is right for you depends on a lot of things: what you do, your contract values, your budget etc. And for that reason, it’s certainly worth having a chat with your broker and getting their advice on the best fit for your business.

If you'd like some more advice on whether any one claim or in the aggregate is the right choice for you, give us a ring on 0345 222 5391.

Image used under license from Shutterstock.

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