Insurance for energy assessors

Why do energy assessors need professional indemnity insurance?

As well as assessing your client’s energy credentials, you should also be keeping an eye on your risk. For anything that could go wrong, think about how you’ll prevent it from happening.

It sounds a bit serious, but when a mistake in your work could cause big problems for your client, that’s a big problem for you too. Energy assessing is a specialist service; you’re the expert, so they’re expecting you to get it right.

Sometimes though, no matter how hard you try, things just don’t go right. Mistakes are made, nasty allegations are thrown around, and solicitors get involved.

Professional indemnity for energy assessors is the best way to make sure a silly oversight doesn’t wreak havoc on your business. If things go wrong, your policy pays a solicitor to defend you (whether you’re at fault or not) and compensates your client if you are liable.

It allows you to focus on running your business the best you can, safe in the knowledge that unexpected mishaps are already prepared for.

How much professional indemnity insurance do I need?

This depends solely on what your business does.

There’s no right or wrong answer because every business is different. Our best advice is: be pessimistic and buy as much as you can afford.

In fact, assuming the worst will happen is a good place to start. If you do make a mistake, how expensive will it be to fix? Also think about whether you work on commercial or government contracts, and consider exactly what it is you do for them. Offering advice on how to tackle legislation, for example, is less risky than doing land contamination surveys.

Always bear in mind that you can’t have too much cover. Your legal defence can cost many tens of thousands of pounds – and that’s before the compensation bill from your client arrives.

It’s a tricky one to get right. Have a read of this guide or call us if you need more help.

What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

Professional indemnity insurance covers negligence claims and allegations made against you by clients and third parties. That means things you’ve failed to do, or mistakes you’ve made, that have cost other people money.

Specifically (but depending on the policy wording):

• Defamation
• Intellectual property infringement
• Loss of documents or data
• Negligent misrepresentation or misstatement
• Employee dishonesty
• Virus transmission
• Breach of confidentiality

But that’s not all. Some professional indemnity policies can fix a mistake before your client is even aware of it, thereby preventing a claim in the first place.

What else do I need?

If you have any employees, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement. If an employee suffers an injury or illness as a result of working for your company, they can sue it for damages. Your insurance can cover their compensation, plus any legal fees.

If you visit clients, or they visit you, consider getting some public liability insurance. This covers you if someone is injured, or their property is damaged, and you’re to blame.

Office and property insurance covers the things in your office (furniture, plants, fixed IT equipment etc) and portable insurance covers gadgets and technical equipment away from the office (laptops, tablets, projectors etc). If you’re not sure it’s worth insuring, add it all up – it’s probably worth more than you think.

Business interruption insurance means you can still work when your office is out of action. Be it flood, fire or flea infestation, you’re covered for the costs of setting up elsewhere and for any lost revenue in that time.

If you’re a company boss, you can protect yourself with directors’ and officers’ insurance. Anyone can accuse you of not running your business with due care, and in the UK, company directors are personally liable for their actions. The good thing is this insurance covers your defence costs and any compensation you have to pay. So you can put away your chequebook.

Why choose us?

It’s a simple formula, really. From day one, we’ve focused on doing insurance better.

For our customers, that means:

• Quick and easy online quotes
• Jargon-free documents straight to your inbox
• Real people you can talk to. No scripts, no call centres, no phone menus.

Plus, there’s more. We give you free stuff, too. Like an “I’m insured” badge for your website. And a reward each time you recommend us.

You’ll get access to our online article hub packed full of helpful tips and insurance-savvy advice.

And if you’re still on the fence, check out our platinum-rated customer feedback. We think it speaks volumes about how we do things round here.