Professional Indemnity

Professional Indemnity Overview

Our professional indemnity section covers an Agency’s legal liability to pay compensation to a third party arising out of a breach or alleged breach of their professional duty of care.

Who’s covered?

  • all Queensland Government Agencies insured with QGIF.
  • the Agency’s employees, Board and/or Committee members, as well as volunteers where:
    • an Agency agrees to indemnify an Agency employee, volunteer, Board and/or Committee member under the Queensland Government Indemnity Guidelines (as amended from time to time).  The indemnity process is not determined by QGIF.  The Agency’s employees, board members, committee members or volunteers, who have been granted indemnity, will be covered under the QGIF policy.
    • civil liability in relation to the conduct of an Agency employee, volunteer, Board and/or Committee member attaches to the Agency pursuant to a Queensland law (e.g. Section 26c of the Public Service Act 2008 (Qld)).

 

What’s covered?

  • all amounts the Agency becomes legally liable to pay as compensation to a third party for a breach of professional duty committed or alleged to have been committed in the conduct of the Agency’s activities and occurring during the period of insurance.
  • professional indemnity under the QGIF Insurance Policy – Statement of Cover is written on a ‘claims occurrence’ basis. This means QGIF will cover the Agency for an incident which occurs during the period when the policy was in force, regardless of when a claim is made or reported to QGIF.

What’s excluded?

  • legal liability for which the Agency has assumed under a contract or agreement unless liability would have existed in the absence of such a contract or agreement.
  • costs associated with judicial reviews, coronial inquiries, investigations by a professional body, parliamentary committee or other State, Commonwealth or Territory body.

Frequently Asked Questions

A member of the public contacts the Agency seeking information/advice and pays the Agency a fee for its services.  This person later suffers significant financial loss and subsequently takes legal action against the Agency, alleging their financial loss was caused by the Agency’s wrongful advice.

The level of cover provided by QGIF is unlimited.

Your Agency is required to pay the deductible which is noted on your Agency’s Insurance Certificate.

No. As the Agency is not charging a fee for its service, cover will be provided under the General Liability section of QGIF’s policy.

No. Cover is restricted to the Agency’s activities only and while the employee is performing work for, or on behalf, of the Agency. When working part-time in a private practice, the employee will need to arrange their own insurance with a commercial insurer.