Half of Engineers Not Covered for Injuries to the Public
London, UK (PRWEB) February 9, 2010
52% of UK Engineers are not covered for accidents or injury to the public, according to data from Coverzones, the business insurance comparison and policy management site, which has analysed a sample of 4,500 requests for insurance quotes over a three month period.
Eight in ten civil and structural engineers not covered for public accidents.
According to the Coverzones Engineering Insurance Report, only 48 per cent of engineers looked to purchase public liability insurance in the sample period, followed by just 29 per cent of civil engineers and 22 per cent of engineering consultants. Public Liability insurance covers policy holders against accidents and injury to the public, clients or customers. The implication of the data is that as many as 82 per cent of civil and structural engineers may not be covered for accidental injury.
Simon Ball, CEO of Coverzones: “Although Public Liability insurance is not mandatory for businesses in the engineering profession, considering that their work frequently requires professionals to visit clients on construction sites, it is extremely wise to be protected. You just have to turn on daytime television to see the prevalence of personal injury lawyers and the ease with which a claim can be made. It’s a sad truth that accidents do inevitably happen from time to time and, in an industry where work often occurs in hazardous environments, it is concerning that such a low percentage of companies are enquiring about this type of insurance.”
A third of Civil and Structural Engineers unprotected from cost of professional mistakes.
In the three month period, Coverzones data also revealed that just 65 per cent of civil and structural engineers had actively enquired about Professional Indemnity insurance, suggesting that 35 per cent may not be covered. This type of insurance protects policy holders against claims from clients who suffer a financial loss or damages due to negligence, breach of care or error in professional advice. 57 per cent of civil engineers, 56 per cent of engineering consultants and just 29 per cent of design consultants enquired about Professional Indemnity insurance in the three month sample period.
Although there is no official requirement from engineering bodies for companies to hold professional indemnity insurance, it is strongly recommended. It is often the case that engineers are required to hold and maintain cover to meet with clients’ contractual requirements and collateral warranty agreements anyway.
Ball continued: “It’s staggering, in an industry that’s been hit so hard by the recession, that such a high proportion of professionals are not protecting themselves. Imagine a situation where you might be chasing a client for unpaid fees and they file a counter claim alleging, for example, that you’d given a misleading estimate in order to delay or reduce their payment. Without Professional Indemnity insurance, you would have no recourse. Consider also that Chartered Engineers are often involved in calculations and planning of multi-million pound developments – a claim from just a single mistake could well cripple a business.”
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