AAT insurance rules and what they mean for potential PPI policyholders
Some professions require certain kinds of insurance as a condition of membership to specialist associations or simply as a part of law. Accounting is one of these professions, and the AAT or Association of Accounting Technicians has clear rules on what a professional has to have in place. AAT insurance rules say someone must have a minimum level of professional indemnity insurance to be a member in practice.
Professional indemnity insurance is often shortened to PII and is a kind of insurance which pays someone’s legal bills and compensation costs if they face action. Accountants are not the only ones to take out this kind of insurance, the likes of architects and private doctors often have this protection as well.
However, in recent years many other types of expert have taken out professional indemnity insurance because of heightened general legal awareness which can see clients pursue legal action in the event they are unhappy or feel that they have lost money as a result of erroneous advice offered by a hired expert.
AAT Insurance rules are therefore nothing out of the ordinary and quite similar to conditions placed on other professions. Policies providing professional indemnity cover are normally worded to ensure that somebody is entitled to help with their legal costs in the event that they face action due to a real or perceived error, omission, or act of negligence made in connection with their general business.
Policies can protect individuals or firms in general, and always come with a set policy limit. This is because insurers will cover someone’s compensation and legal costs only up to a set point, although it is often possible to get a deal which has enough protection to provide generally adequate cover for your business. Some policies will protect somebody up to tens of millions of pounds, although not everyone will need this.
When taking out cover it may not always pay to simply go for the minimum required level, such as that imposed by AAT insurance rules. There are often some other things to consider which may be included as part of a deal, including the possible option of public liability cover, although some companies will include this with a deal automatically. Somebody may also want to look at run off cover, which protect somebody after they have retired for a while, or for a period in between insurers, and retroactive cover, which will protect somebody against claims which arrive in future but relate to something which happened in the past.
Comments
Leave a Reply