Berkley Insurance Australia (BIA) is advising brokers to explore the benefits of consolidating general liability (GL) and professional indemnity (PI) policies with a single insurer for their professional clients.
The insurer noted that managing separate GL and PI policies often involves navigating different insurers, policy wordings, and the ongoing task of collecting proposal forms. By placing these policies with one insurer, it suggested, brokers could:
BIA issued this advice amid an increase in claims related to employment practices liability and Australian Taxation Office investigations, prompting the insurer to call for accurate business descriptions in PI policies and timely notification of potential claims. It also urges brokers to ensure their clients have appropriate coverage.
BIA suggested that consolidating GL and PI policies under one insurer could lead to several key benefits. These include:
See LinkedIn post here.
Having both policies with the same insurer could also make it easier to determine which policy applies when a claim arises, particularly in complex cases where GL and PI might overlap.
BIA shared examples that demonstrate how claims can be managed more effectively when GL and PI policies are aligned.
In one scenario, a property manager’s PI policy responded to a claim related to a fire at a managed property, while another incident involving a tenant injury at an office was handled by a GL policy.
These examples underscore the importance of aligning these coverages, especially in professions such as real estate, project management, and interior design, where professional responsibilities and general business operations often intersect.
BIA’s advice on policy consolidation follows the expansion of the company’s bindIT broker portal to include PI insurance.
The bindIT platform now offers a combined GL and PI solution with coverage limits of up to $20 million.
