FAQs - Counsellors insurance - Professional liability 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 liability insurance in place before they can become a member.

The policy covers all types of counselling activities, regardless of the modality and the types of clients you work with. Even if you work with higher risk clients such as trauma victims or drug and alcohol dependent clients, there are no restrictions on the cover for these types of work.

You can lapse your policy from the next renewal date. We can also provide ‘run-off’ cover from the date the policy lapses. 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. If someone decided to sue you, they have up to 3 years in which to make a compensation claim from the date they discover their loss, so this cover would ensure that any late claims are still covered. You must contact us to arrange this cover, and a small fee may apply.

If you move permanently, we will no longer be able to provide cover, as the policy is designed for practitioners living in the UK. If your main residence is abroad, you will need to arrange insurance through a company in your country of residence. If however, you are simply working abroad temporarily, whilst still living in the UK, this is already covered as standard.

We provide discounts for members of many professional associations. When obtaining a quote through this site, simply select your membership association from the drop-down box and your discount will automatically be included. If it does not appear, simply type it in. Even if you are not a member of any professional association, we can usually still offer you a quote.

If you’re in the process of joining an association, you can still claim your discount. We simply make a note of the association you have applied to join and will contact you later to ascertain your membership number. Provided that you let us have this within a reasonable time, we will continue to provide cover at the discounted rate.

This is not included as standard. However, the policy can be extended to include this, at an additional premium of £52.50 (including insurance premium tax of 5%).

Yes, the policy covers you to work at or from any location, provided that you live, and are based in the UK. This includes your home, and the cover is not restricted in any way by working from home. You may find however that your home insurers restrict or invalidate your home insurance if you have business visitors to your home. If this is the case, Towergate has a special ‘Homeworkers’ insurance policy which will cover you to see clients at home.

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. Equally, if you have a routine query on which you would like our opinion, we are always happy to help.

Towergate will help you through the claims process and work with you to get a settlement from the insurer. With our in-depth knowledge of the policy cover and our strong relationships with the insurers, we’re well placed to ensure that you and your business get back to normal as quickly as possible.

No. 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.

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 Liability insurance through Towergate Professional Risks include:

• our strong relationship with major insurers – we can negotiate competitive rates for you
• our high level of ongoing service
• 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 Royal & Sun Alliance, a long-established, reputable insurers, for our counselling clients.

The Limit of Indemnity is the maximum amount the insurer will pay out to defend a compensation claim. Legal costs are payable in addition to this amount. If for example you had a limit of indemnity of £1m we would pay up to £1m in damages, plus your legal costs.

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 you may need. 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 in the world (provided that your main residence is in the UK), be they your own, or those 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 applies). So if you arrange another policy elsewhere, you should check first that it also covers any claims for past activities.