Professional Offices
In an office, the asset is the judgement with which a task is resolved and the file that is kept on behalf of another. A technical decision is insured that remains valid years after being signed, when the matter continues and the person who made it may have retired or changed firms.
Professional error, missed deadline and file confidentiality
The collegiate insurance sets the floor of the cover for an office
Professional civil liability is mandatory in many regulated professions, and the collective policy of the college resolves it with a limit designed for individual practice. When the office is organised as a professional society, advises on operations of a certain size, or applies the same judgement to its entire portfolio, that floor falls below the exposure and the excess must be built on top.
The professional society has its own duty to insure
The collegiate insurance covers the member, while Law 2/2007 also obliges the professional society to cover the liability it incurs itself. If the claim is directed at the society and only an individual policy exists, the file begins by discussing who is the insured.
Serial claim and the limit per annum
The same judgement applied to several clients generates different claims with a single origin, and the unit of claim clause decides whether they consume one limit or several. It is advisable to check whether the limit operates per claim or per insurance period, because that reading determines the capacity available for the second file.
Discovery period when transferring or closing the office
When a firm ceases or merges with another, the policy stops renewing while the already closed assignments continue their course. The discovery period keeps the notification open for the agreed years, and the run-off covers the absorbed firm during that same period. Both are closed within the operation itself, along with the retroactive date, which travels with the firm when it changes insurer.
Professional secrecy and boundary with the cyber policy
A firm holds third-party documentation, so a breach affects its clients' matters before its own. The technical response and notification are ordered by the cyber policy, while the client's claim for the suffered damage travels through professional civil liability. Checking in both terms how this concurrence is articulated is what allows responding to the client and the control authority with a single criterion.
The covers that support a company in this sector
Each one is designed based on the company's real exposure. None are contracted the same in two companies in the same sector.
- D&O insurance for directorsThe personal assets of those who decide
- Insurance due diligence and W&I insuranceInsurable liabilities before closing
- Group health insurance for companiesFlexible pay and medical network
- Life insuranceProtection for those who depend on you
- Personal accident insuranceFinancial consequences contained
- Subsidy insurance for work absenceIncome while you are signed off
Lo que nos preguntan en professional offices
Is the civil liability insurance of the association sufficient?
It covers the practice of the member with a common limit for all, calculated on the average assignment of the profession. When the firm acts as a professional society, advises on operations of a certain volume, or regularly works for a company, that limit is exhausted with a single file, and it is advisable to add an excess or a personal policy above the collective.
What happens with old matters if I change insurer or close the firm?
Professional civil liability operates on a claims-made basis, so the policy in force on the day the claim arrives responds, regardless of when the opinion was issued. As long as the firm continues renewing, the old assignment is attended by the current policy, and the already retired partner retains their status as insured for the work they signed. The cessation or integration operation is where the discovery period, run-off, and retroactive date that travels with the firm are closed.
Does the policy cover the loss of a procedural deadline?
Yes. The lost deadline is a characteristic case of professional negligence and is covered as long as the claim is made during the validity and the event is after the retroactivity. The amount is set by the doctrine of loss of opportunity: the court assesses what probability the matter that was left undefended had of succeeding and grants a proportion of the claimed amount according to that probability. As for the defence, Article 74 of the Insurance Contract Law places the expenses on the insurer unless otherwise agreed, so the check when comparing terms is whether the contract has deviated from that rule and makes them consume the limit, which is the usual wording in policies of Anglo-Saxon origin.
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