FAQs - Society of Biology Members insurance

It’s not compulsory but claims for damages are on the increase and many professional associations therefore recommend their members to arrange it. Some associations even insist on members having professional indemnity insurance in place before they can become a member.

You can lapse your policy from the next renewal date. We can also provide ‘run-off’ cover from the date the policy lapses which will protect you after retiring or cease trading. If you take out this cover, if any claims come in after you have retired, they will be covered if they arise from your business activity as stated on your certificate. You must contact us to arrange this cover, and a charge will apply.

You should notify us immediately, even if you only think you might need to make a claim. We are here to help and quick action could mitigate costs or even prevent a claim. Once we have been informed Hiscox will then take the lead on dealing with your claim and with a recent award at the Post Magazine Claims Awards for Personal & Commercial Claims Team of the Year 2011 we can assure you that you will be in good hands. Equally, if you have a routine query on which you would like our opinion, we are always happy to help.

Once you have informed Towergate Professional Risks about the claim, Hiscox will then take the lead on dealing with your claim and with a recent award at the Post Magazine Claims Awards for Personal & Commercial Claims Team of the Year 2011 we can assure you that you will be in good hands. Throughout the process if you have any issues please do not hesitate to contact us.

The insurers will appoint solicitors, where appropriate, to represent you and will pay them directly. You do not need to make any payments to solicitors however an initial excess payment to the insurer will apply.

Towergate Professional Risks are part of Towergate Underwriting Group Limited - the largest independent insurance intermediary in Europe. We use our size and the strength of our relationships with insurers to help our clients get the right cover and the right service at a competitive price.

The benefits of arranging your professional indemnity insurance through Towergate Professional Risks include:

• we have tailor made a policy for Society of Biology members
• our strong relationship with Hiscox - we can negotiate competitive rates for you
• our high level of ongoing service - over the past year we have had over 85% client satisfaction
• our many years’ experience of running such schemes - we understand your profession and the risks you face and ensure that the cover we offer meets your needs as a professional

We use Hiscox Insurance Company which is the UK’s leading specialist insurer. They specialise in two main areas - Professions & Speciality Commercial and Art & Private Client insurances. Their philosophy is based on quality of service demonstrated through their claims handling and flexible underwriting. They are at the forefront of the technological changes taking place in the Insurance Industry through e-trading and their Hiscox Underwriting Centre.

The limit of indemnity is the maximum amount the insurer will pay out to defend a compensation claim. Cover is on an any one claim basis which means the limit of indemnity is for each claim made, not for the year of insurance. Cover will indemnify you for both the legal costs of defending an action and any subsequent damages awarded. Defence costs are usually paid in addition to the limit of indemnity, not limited within the limit of indemnity.

With legal costs and the likelihood of being sued increasing, you should consider as much cover as you can afford. Your own personal circumstances will also have a bearing on the amount of cover that you need. Cost inevitably has a strong influence when selecting the correct level of indemnity but the final decision comes down to the individual who’s buying the protection. Ultimately, you need to have the peace of mind that, if something does go wrong, you have adequate cover in place to protect your livelihood. Also, if for example, you work on clients’ premises - especially corporate clients - they may insist on you having a certain level of insurance in place.

The policy allows you to work at any premises within member states of the EU, be it your own, or that of your client or a third party.

The policy is arranged on a ‘claims made’ basis, meaning that whilst you are on cover with us, you are entitled to make a claim, even if it relates to work you carried out some time ago. This is provided that you were not aware of the incident when you took the policy out with us. You also need to be aware that if you lapse your policy with us, no further claims can be made on our policy (unless you retire or cease to trade, in which case ‘run-off’ cover should be arranged). So if you arrange another policy elsewhere, you should check first that it also covers any claims for past activities.