Does professional indemnity insurance cover breach of contract?

Asked by: Dr. Lincoln Wehner  |  Last update: January 14, 2026
Score: 5/5 (41 votes)

Breach of contract: Simply put—if you sign a contract with someone and don't honor your end of it, the other party has every right to sue you. Supposing that the breach was an oversight, your professional indemnity insurance will cover your legal losses.

What is not covered under professional indemnity insurance?

Some instances which will not be covered by PI include deliberate acts of wrong doing by you and acts which are considered criminal. Also, allegations of negligence made by employees against you are not covered (these may instead be covered under Worker's Compensation Insurance).

Does indemnification cover breach of contract?

Indemnification comes into play in service agreements, too. In that context, they can be used to guard against things like breaches of warranties or breach of contract. Drafting and negotiating an effective indemnification provision benefits both parties.

What type of insurance covers breach of contract?

Professional liability insurance is a claims-made policy, which means it only covers breach of contract claims that occur while your policy is in force. That's why it's important that you maintain continuous coverage for maximum protection.

What is not covered by indemnity insurance?

What Does Indemnity Insurance Not Cover? Claims covered by your general liability policy, such as third-person bodily injury or property damage, are not covered by indemnity insurance. Always review your policy for your specific coverage and exclusions.

What is Professional Indemnity Insurance? | Griffiths & Armour

37 related questions found

What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

Professional indemnity insurance, also known as PI insurance, is a type of business cover that can help protect you when working with clients. If a client accuses you of giving them inadequate or inaccurate advice, PI insurance could help to cover the cost of your legal defence, and any potential compensation.

What are the disadvantages of indemnity insurance?

Indemnity plans may limit the number of times you can access a particular service and the total amount of benefits you can receive in a year. So, an indemnity plan might not provide enough coverage for a serious health condition.

Why is breach of contract not covered by insurance?

Insurance policies typically do not cover liabilities arising out of a breach of contract because it is viewed as a business risk within the control of the insured.

What type of insurance covers data breach?

First-party cyber liability insurance protects you from the high costs of a data breach or ransomware attack against your business' servers and computer systems. If your business stores sensitive data like credit card numbers or Social Security numbers, you should consider first-party coverage.

Who is liable for breach of contract?

You need to sue the person or business who signed or entered into and then breached the contract. Generally, someone cannot sue a third party they do not have a contract with. Only the one who signed or entered into the agreement with you is responsible for the damages to you.

What is the difference between a breach of contract and an indemnity?

Whereas a breach of contract requires a party to be in breach of its contractual obligation, an indemnity doesn't require a breach of contract at all – a contractor might give an indemnity to the employer in respect of personal injury to a person caused by the carrying out of the Works.

What is the difference between indemnification and indemnity?

To indemnify” means to compensate someone for their harm or loss. An indemnity refers to a contractual obligation for one party to provide compensation in the event of losses on the part of another party. Okay, that was easy to understand.

What is not included in contract of indemnity?

The indemnifier promises to cover only losses brought on by his action under the limit of indemnification. Losses incurred as a result of the promisee and third party's actions are not covered by the contract of indemnity.

What are the exclusions for indemnity insurance?

What are the common exclusions in professional indemnity cover?
  • Prior known circumstances: claims related to circumstances known to the business before taking out the insurance policy are excluded.
  • Incidents before the policy date: claims relating to incidents that occurred before the specified policy date are excluded.

What is the limit for professional indemnity?

The regulation requires policies to provide a minimum level of indemnity coverage of not less than $1 million for any one claim; and not less than $3 million in the aggregate, for all claims made during the period of insurance.

How long to keep professional indemnity insurance?

How long is it needed for? Whilst the majority of claims are made within a few years of the work being completed, it is still possible for a claim to go back a number of years. That is why our PI Regulations stipulate that you must have run-off cover for not less than 6 years.

Who is legally liable for data breach?

If the breach involves a cyberattack in a traditional data owner's proprietary network & data center, the data owner is obviously potentially liable. State and federal data privacy laws in the U.S. do not impose civil liabilities in the event of a cyber intrusion.

What are the three 3 kinds of data breach?

If you're defining breaches by impact, types of data breaches include:
  • Confidentiality breach.
  • Integrity breach.
  • Availability breach.

What insurance covers breach of confidentiality?

Privacy Liability Coverage

Privacy liability coverage is essential for organizations handling sensitive employee and customer information. It helps protect the organization in the event of a data breach that exposes private data and exposes the organization to liability.

What insurance policy covers breach of contract?

Contractual liability insurance helps cover claims related to contract issues. It covers liability that a business owner assumes from a contract. Contractual liability coverage is important for businesses that regularly deal with contracts, such as contractors.

Can you claim damages for breach of contract?

In order to sue successfully for damages arising out of a breach of contract, you must demonstrate that there was a contract in existence, that the other side failed to perform their part of the bargain satisfactorily and that you suffered a loss as a result.

Which damages are not recoverable for breach of contract?

Examples of general damages are compensation for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of reputation. These damages are generally not recoverable is a breach of contract action.

Why is an indemnity better than breach of contract?

This offers a number of advantages over bringing a damages claim for a breach of contract: An indemnity will typically be triggered by losses being incurred, without the need to prove any "fault". This can also avoid rules around causation and mitigation, which can otherwise make recovery more problematic.

What does indemnity insurance cover?

Professional indemnity insurance protects you against claims for loss or damage made by clients or third parties as a result of the impact of negligent services you provided or negligent advice you offered. Compensation claims can be brought against you even if you provided a service or offered advice for free.

What do indemnity plans usually reimburse?

Indemnity insurance helps pay medical bills. You may cover some costs yourself first (deductible). After that, you'll share some of the costs with the insurance company (co-insurance). You can go to any doctor or hospital and insurance will reimburse you.