As the financial year draws to a close, you may have tax time on your mind. For the accountants, bookkeepers and other tax professionals on your books, their services are in high demand as small businesses across Australia prepare to close out their books and submit a tax filing.
But as you know, your accounting clients need protection all year long. That’s where Professional Indemnity (PI)* insurance comes into play. Now might be the time to consider how you can best serve these clients, whether they’re newly in the market for a PI policy or ready to renew.
Professional Indemnity basics for Accountants
For practicing accountants, PI insurance is an essential form of cover against claims of negligent acts, errors and omissions resulting from their work.
A PI policy also helps your accounting, bookkeeping and tax professional clients meet insurance obligations set by their professional association or government legislation.
Claims examples
Here’s a real-life claim example from one of our insurer partners:
The insured provided advice to a client in his capacity as a tax agent. The client pursued a claim on the basis that the insured wrongly and negligently advised the client that he was not eligible for the Jobkeeper programme, and did not make an application for the client to receive benefits from that programme at the appropriate time. The client claimed he suffered of loss of benefits under the programme exceeding $15,000 as a result of the incorrect advice provided and the failure to lodge the application.
The insured conceded that he provided advice that was later demonstrated to be incorrect, and started an application for retrospective payments, however the criteria for retrospective payments was not met. The insurer indemnified the insured for the losses claimed by the insured’s client.
Our Professional Indemnity offering for Accountants
BizCover for Brokers has a broad PI appetite for accountants, bookkeepers, and other tax professionals. In fact, in 2020 we assisted over 7,000 accountants to obtain insurance.
Four insurer partners offer PI through the B4B platform—AIG, Dual, QBE and Vero—with two providing unlimited reinstatements for accountants.
We can also accommodate both your SME and micro-SME accounting clients. In 2020 we covered your start-up clients, and our largest bound turnover was $5,300,000. However, we can cover accountants with turnovers up to $7,500,000.
Like many small business owners, the bottom line is important to accountants. Our smallest premium on the books in 2020 was $228, and the largest was $39,220. We offer cover for accountants of all shapes and sizes!
We quoted 94% of all submissions we received in 2020. This means only 6% of submissions were declined! With these statistics BizCover for Brokers gives you the confidence that you can bind a PI policy for your SME clients of any size with us.
These numbers are an indication of the business quoted and bound through BizCover for Brokers for calendar year 2020 and is not a representation or guarantee of any current or future rates.
What other policies do accountants typically consider?
Brokers are binding more than just PI for the accounting clients. Other policies typically bound along with PI on the B4B platform include:
With a single data entry, you can easily quote and bind multiple products at the same time through the B4B platform.
Broking streamlined
Professional Indemnity insurance is an important product for your SME clients, especially accountants, bookkeepers and tax professionals. BizCover for Brokers has streamlined the broking process, making it faster and easier to bind PI and seven other products for your clients.
Sign in to bind your client’s next Professional Indemnity policy with BizCover for Brokers.
Ready to put the B4B platform to work for your brokerage? Join now to get started.
*As with any insurance, cover will be subject to the terms, conditions and exclusions contained in the policy wording. The information contained in this email is general only. Coverage for claims on the policy will be determined by the insurer, not BizCover for Brokers, and will depend on the specific facts and circumstances involved.
**The provision of claims examples are for illustrative purposes only and should not be seen as an indication as to how any potential claim will be assessed or accepted. Cover for a claim will depend on the specific circumstances around the loss and would be subject to the terms and conditions of the policy concerned.
BizCover for Brokers is a business name of BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975; AFSL 501769)
