Marine Professional Negligence Insurance – Key Points
By Ray Park – Marine Insure
Marine Professional Negligence Insurance is a specialty line targeted at occupations within the Marine Industry such as Naval Architects, Marine Surveyors and Consultants, Marine Engineers, Ships Managers and Transport/Logistics Consultants to name a few.
The cover of such a policy is to indemnify the Insured in respect of any claim covered under the policy which the insured neither intended nor reasonably should have expected to have arisen during or as a result of the performance of the Insured’s services. So in a nutshell the policy covers against financial liability arising from a breach of their professional duties committed in the conduct of their business including errors and omissions. It also covers the costs and expenses of defending such claims. It is important to note the Insured must never admit liability to the third party under policy conditions.
Claims Made vs Occurrence
A Marine Professional Negligence policy is what is called a ‘Claims Made’ policy rather than an ‘Occurrence’ based policy. This simply means that as soon as an Insured becomes aware that a possible claim could be made against them as covered by the policy, then the policy current at such time will respond and not a policy current at the time of the alleged professional negligence. It is therefore essential that insurers be notified of the possible claim promptly with the current policy period.
Retroactive Date
Retroactive Date, if provided for in the policy schedule, shall be the date prior to the period of insurance, which is the earliest time for performance of Insured Services to be covered by the policy concerned. Generally if no retroactive date is shown, it shall be deemed the Date of Inception or the date of written instruction is received by insurers to bind cover – whichever is the later. The preferable option is a Retroactive Date of ‘Unlimited’.
Sub-Contractors
When appointing a sub-contractor it is incumbent upon the Insured to check the reputation and experience of the sub-contractor and advise all the responsibilities and duties in writing. Further the Insured has a responsibility to comply with all relevant regulations within the area they work in. Cover does usually extend to unintentional breach of any regulation, legal or statutory provision resulting in fines and penalties. The Insured should ensure that their sub-contractors carry their own Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Policies.
A requirement of most policies is that the Insured must have ‘Terms and Conditions’ as approved by insurers and such terms and conditions must be applied to all services, recommendations, valuations, inspections and so on.
This article represents a brief overview of Marine Professional Negligence Insurance, and should you require more in depth explanation you should contact your insurance adviser.
Please contact Ray Park on 0421 881 325 or (07) 3217 9015 should you wish to discuss your specific Marine Insurance requirements.
Raymond Park is an Authorised Representative of Insurance Advisernet Australia Pty Ltd. Authorised Representative number – 282834
Disclaimer:
This information and any accompanying material does not consider your personal circumstances as it is of a general nature only. You should not act on the information provided without first obtaining professional financial advice specific to your circumstances and considering the specific Insurers Product Disclosure Statement.
The Partnership: The Trustee for Adam Lewis Family Trust and The Trustee for the Lewis Family Trust T/ as Lewis Insurance Services, Marine Insure and Insurance For My Business is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Insurance Advisernet Australia Pty Ltd. Advice on General Insurance products are provided by IAA. ABN: 15 003 886 687 | AFSL No: 240549 | CAR No: 430967