Architects Professional Indemnity Insurance

What Insurance Do I Need as an Architect?*

Some of the major types of business insurance covers available to architects in Australia are explained below and include:

• Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Business Pack Insurance
• Public Liability Insurance
• Cyber Insurance 
• Management Liability Insurance

Professional Indemnity Insurance for architects *

Professional indemnity insurance is the essential cover for architects.

Architects typically provide professional advice and plans involving the designing of building and spaces to meet safety standards and construction building requirements to clients for a fee, they require professional indemnity insurance to protect themselves and their business.

If an architect makes an error, such as providing incorrect information on a plan, makes an omission , or provides advice that leads to financial losses for a client, a client may seek to recover these losses from the architect.

Professional Indemnity Insurance may help architects stay in business by paying for legal defence costs, public relation expenses, privacy brief costs and financial losses if awarded against them.

Professional indemnity may help pay for your legal costs to defend yourself.

Your architect’s business risk depends on the activities you undertake for your clients, and can include:

• Breaches of client confidentiality.
• Misstatement or misrepresentation
• Negligence
• Loss of documents or data
• Financial loss due to incorrect advice
• Any infringement, unintentionally, of intellectual property rights
• Inaccurate advice

Claims can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions of dollars, therefore it is important that an adequate level of cover is chosen to protect against major financial loss, which will not only have an impact on your business but could also affect your personal assets.

Business insurance pack for architects*

Architects may be able to combine multiple covers in a single business insurance pack policy.

By ‘packaging’ their business insurance into a ‘business pack’ architects can potentially cover many of the risks their business faces in the one policy.

For example, if an architect has a commercial premises, a business insurance pack may provide cover for buildings and contents if they are accidentally damaged by a defined event, such as fire, storm, impact damage, accidental damage, vandalism, or malicious damage.

Other typical inclusions for architects with a business insurance pack are Public Liability & Products Liability Insurance.

If a client slips and fall down your stairs, badly injures themselves and claims against you, Public Liability Insurance may assist you.

Optional inclusions for architects with a business insurance pack are General Property, Contents including Fit Out, Theft, Glass, Business Interruption andMachinery Breakdown

For example, computers may be covered if burgled, and loss of profits may be covered under business interruption if caused by a defined event.

Multiple office locations may be able to be covered on the one business pack insurance policy.

Cyber Insurance for architects *

Your business’ computer system network contains confidential client data, which is a target for hackers.

Cyber insurance may protect your business if your client’s data is held at ransom, cyber extortion or even privacy breaches resulting from Cyber-attacks. 

Cyber insurance may cover costs resulting from a cyber incident, including IT forensics, virus extraction, customer/client notification costs and public relation costs.

Help reduce the impact of damages from a cyber event with cyber insurance – and keep your architectural firm going.

Management Liability Insurance for architects *

Management Liability Insurance may provide valuable protection for directors, for specified issues relating to Human Resources, OH & S and Statutory Liability.

Why do architects need public liability insurance?*

Public Liability Insurance coverage is essential for all architect operations.

People and property on site may be hurt or damaged due to accidents involving your architect business activities.

Protections for architects through public liability insurance in Australia generally include:

1. Injury to other persons due to your architectural activities – For example, a client is injured when they trip and fall in your premises.
2. Damage to others property due to your business activities

Public liability insurance coverage may protect architects from claims that arise when others allege they are negligent.

An architect’s public liability policy may provide a defence against the ensuing lawsuit when needed and may pay the damages sought by the injured party.

Public Liability Insurance may provide architects with protection for slip-and-trip accidents