Professional Indemnity

Akopọ

Some workers are paid not for what they make with their hands but for what they know. A doctor, an accountant, an architect and an insurance broker all sell judgement, and a client acts on that judgement without checking it. When the judgement is wrong, the client can lose money, sometimes a great deal of it, without a single thing being broken or anyone being hurt. Professional indemnity is the insurance that answers for that kind of loss.

In this lesson you will learn exactly what professional indemnity covers, the negligence that triggers it, and the long list of professions that must carry it, several of them by Nigerian law. You will see why expert advice exposes a professional to strangers who were never their client, why these policies respond to the year the claim is made rather than the year the mistake happened, and how to tell professional indemnity apart from public liability, the distinction examiners test most.

Awọn Afojusun

  1. Define professional indemnity insurance and explain the negligence it covers
  2. Identify the professions that require professional indemnity cover
  3. Explain why professional advice creates a financial exposure to third parties
  4. Distinguish professional indemnity from public liability insurance

Akọ̀wé Ẹ̀kọ́

A young accountant in Ikeja prepares a company's tax returns and, through a careless slip, understates what the company owes. Two years later the Federal Inland Revenue Service reassesses the company and hands it a bill for the shortfall plus a penalty running into millions of naira. Nothing was stolen, nothing caught fire, no one was injured. Yet the company has suffered a real financial loss, and it blames the accountant. Can the accountant, who may not own assets worth a fraction of that bill, meet the claim? Only if the right policy stands behind the professional judgement that failed. That policy is professional indemnity.

Ìdánwò Ẹ̀kọ́

Oriire fun ipari ẹkọ lori Professional Indemnity. Ni bayi ti o ti ṣawari naa awọn imọran bọtini ati awọn imọran, o to akoko lati fi imọ rẹ si idanwo. Ẹka yii nfunni ni ọpọlọpọ awọn adaṣe awọn ibeere ti a ṣe lati fun oye rẹ lokun ati ṣe iranlọwọ fun ọ lati ṣe iwọn oye ohun elo naa.

Iwọ yoo pade adalu awọn iru ibeere, pẹlu awọn ibeere olumulo pupọ, awọn ibeere idahun kukuru, ati awọn ibeere iwe kikọ. Gbogbo ibeere kọọkan ni a ṣe pẹlu iṣaro lati ṣe ayẹwo awọn ẹya oriṣiriṣi ti imọ rẹ ati awọn ogbon ironu pataki.

Lo ise abala yii gege bi anfaani lati mu oye re lori koko-ọrọ naa lagbara ati lati ṣe idanimọ eyikeyi agbegbe ti o le nilo afikun ikẹkọ. Maṣe jẹ ki awọn italaya eyikeyi ti o ba pade da ọ lójú; dipo, wo wọn gẹgẹ bi awọn anfaani fun idagbasoke ati ilọsiwaju.

  1. Professional indemnity insurance protects a professional against: A. Damage to the professional's own office and equipment B. Legal liability for financial loss caused to others by negligent work C. Injury to the professional while at work D. Theft of the professional's fees by a client Answer: B
  2. Which of the following is NOT normally covered by professional indemnity insurance? A. An accountant's negligent tax advice B. An architect's defective design C. A visitor injured by a falling signboard on the premises D. A surveyor's negligent valuation Answer: C
  3. A professional indemnity policy has a limit of indemnity of 15,000,000 naira and an excess of 400,000 naira. A valid claim for a proven loss of 5,400,000 naira is made. How much will the insurer pay? A. 5,400,000 naira B. 5,000,000 naira C. 4,600,000 naira D. 15,000,000 naira Answer: B
  4. In Nigeria, a licensed insurance broker is statutorily required to keep professional indemnity cover of at least: A. 1,000,000 naira B. 5,000,000 naira C. 10,000,000 naira D. 20,000,000 naira Answer: C
  5. Under a claims-made professional indemnity policy, the policy that responds to a loss is the one in force when the: A. Negligent act was committed B. Premium was first paid C. Claim is first made against the insured D. Policy was cancelled Answer: C

Àwọn Ìbéèrè Tó Ti Kọjá

Ṣe o n ronu ohun ti awọn ibeere atijọ fun koko-ọrọ yii dabi? Eyi ni nọmba awọn ibeere nipa Professional Indemnity lati awọn ọdun ti o kọja.

Ibeere 1 Ìròyìn

(a) List six experts that would require professional indemnity insurance in their operations.

(b) Explain the cover provided by each of the following insurance 'policies:
(i) personal liability
(ii) public liability
(ii) professional indemnity