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Professional Indemnity

19 replies [Last post]
Tue, 2009-01-06 08:08
Stuart Atkinson
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Can anyone please indicate if, and why as a freelance planner I would PI insurance?
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Replies

Thu, 2009-06-18 09:49
#1
Stuart Atkinson
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Groups: Civil Engineering
Not concerned,

Just intrigued. I tend to just go to the far end of a **** sometimes.

Thanks Mike,

Thanks for your input.
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Thu, 2009-06-18 09:43
#2
Mike Testro
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Hi Stuart

This is getting to be a bit esoteric - I am a common or garden builder who does a bit of planning.

I will have to stop this in case you decide to sue me for breach of a duty of care.

If you are really concerned I would advise that you consult a specialist.

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Thu, 2009-06-18 09:31
#3
Stuart Atkinson
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Mike,

What if a company did not require you to have PI in the first place?

Stuart
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Wed, 2009-06-17 12:20
#4
Mike Testro
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Hi Stuart

I suppose that if you were required to take out PII for a particular company that you were working for on contract and you did not do it and then lied when asked if you had.

And then you behaved so negligently that your client lost massive damages then they could possibly come for you.

Say for instance that you were instrumental in delaying a response to an adjudication worth millions and the adjudication was lost thereby then the client may well come for you and pierce the veil.

If you are the worrying sort then take out some PII - you can get some good rates through your professional body.

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Wed, 2009-06-17 11:31
#5
Stuart Atkinson
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Hello Mike,

Does this happen with planners? What conditions need to be in place to prosecute? Is any insurance applicable?

Stuart
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Wed, 2009-06-17 09:18
#6
Mike Testro
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Hi Stuart

A director of a limited company can be prosecuted if his actions have directly caused damage to another party - this process is known as Peircing the Veil in legal circles.

Passing Off is a typical example where the director cannot hide behind the Ltd status.

The rule could possibly apply where inaction caused some damage but that would be harder to crack.

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Wed, 2009-06-17 08:33
#7
Stuart Atkinson
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Mike,

’Pierce the veil’, what do you mean? I thought limited liability meant just that/

Regards,

Stuart
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Mon, 2009-01-26 12:11
#8
Ron Baird
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Hi All,
I have taken out PI and find it is required for most Agency Contracts. It is usually stipulated in the contract that PI is in place although, I have never had to send my policy to prove it.
Better be safe than sorry,
Cheers,
Ron
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Sat, 2009-01-17 01:21
#9
Nestor Principe
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The way I look at it, planners are taking over the management of the project. As a planner I will appreciate it very much.

Cheers..
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Fri, 2009-01-16 18:09
#10
Mike Testro
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PS to all

Do not sue me for wrong advice.

Best regards

Mike Testro
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Fri, 2009-01-16 18:08
#11
Mike Testro
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Hi J H

There is a big diference between ignorance and negligence.

You can only be sued for negligence.

Rest well withuot isnurance.

Best regards

Mike Testro.
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Fri, 2009-01-16 18:04
#12
Mike Testro
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Hi All

I trade as a Ltd company so if any really big hit arrived through professional negligance my company would just go bust - I would not.

Claimants check if the there is any insurance in place before going to court - so no insurance why bother.

To get to me they would have to "Pierce the Veil" below my Ltd Co status - hard work.

Some of my clients have required me to set up PI insurance as a a way of hedging their own risk.

I have obtained this through my proffessional body at low cost at an adumbrated risk.

I hope this helps

Mike Testro.
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Fri, 2009-01-16 17:41
#13
J H
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I don’t know the answer but, I have always wondered what happens if you give the wrong advice i.e what happens if you made a mistake and severely underestimate the project duration or missed sequenced the project and caused the project to be in liquidated damages? What happens if you injured someone while working? If you could be sued for the above then it would be good cause t o get professional indemnity. I do think the risk is not at the same level as say an engineer.
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Mon, 2009-01-12 20:19
#14
Charleston-Joseph...
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I don’t think so that there is a country that got laws regarding the practice of planners or planning engineers or scheduling engineers.

It is not possible due to the influence of ART in planning and scheduling.

Only the arithmetical computation in deriving the critical path that we can say involve science,

the rest are purely arts.

Also as Mike said "it involve the dark side" ??????

Regards,
Happy planning and scheduling
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Mon, 2009-01-12 09:58
#15
Stuart Atkinson
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Thank you everyone
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Tue, 2009-01-06 15:21
#16
Samer Zawaydeh
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Dear Everyone,

It depends on where you are practicing. The local laws might require that you are a registered Engineer in that area and that if you Practice, you need to be covered with PI.

Best,

Samer
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Tue, 2009-01-06 11:15
#17
Carmen Arape
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A planner working in fields such as: chemicals, Oil&Gas, mining etc must be an engineer accredited by the engineering association where he got the degree.

As Se de Leon said, As any Engineer he will be governed by codes and regulations.
If the codes or regulations are obsoletes, that is another reason for having a PI.

After reading a PI policy, I found more than reasonable to get such policy in the case of freelance work.

Cheers,
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Tue, 2009-01-06 10:24
#18
Charleston-Joseph...
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There is no code of ethics yet for planners unlike the old engineering thoughts and practice (Civil Engineers Code of Ethics, etc.)

So the professional indemnity for planners are related to project management consultancy services.

Cheers,
Happy Planning and Scheduling
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Tue, 2009-01-06 10:03
#19
Se de Leon
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Hi Stuart,

This is an interesting question.

For engineers, architects and other "regulated profession, they are required to provide PI because they are governed by codes, professional bodies and performance requirements which must be complied with in the performance of their services. One project that I had required PI on the basis of performance requirements alone.

The question I also have here is, which codes, professional ethics are planners governed by? the only thing that I can think PI will be applicable for planners/schedulers is if there is a clear and agreed performance requirements where services can be measured.

IMO

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