Why is insurance for environmental consultants essential?
All businesses are required to raise their environmental awareness and ensure that they’re meeting their obligations in that regard. Many don’t know where to start, which is where you, the environmental consultant, come in.
Should your client’s business fall short of those obligations and as a result face a financial consequence, you’re likely to be the first port of call. Your work will be scrutinised and you may end up needing a solicitor to respond to your client’s allegation of wrongdoing.
While you may think that proving a fault might be difficult or even impossible, that won’t stop your client from trying. Their attempts to sue you for compensation will be more than just distracting. It is likely to cost you in legal fees because you’ll have to respond in kind.
Self employed business insurance for environmental consultants is a shield against such situations. If your expertise is called into question and financial demands are made, you can relax knowing you have someone to fight your corner.
Professional liability insurance for environmental consultants
The key cover for self employed environmental consultants is professional indemnity insurance. You provide guidance and suggest solutions for your clients’ businesses and professional indemnity will offer legal protection, should you be accused of making a mistake or negligence.
The environmental sector covers a wide range of areas and as an environmental consultant, you’re likely to offer a range of services including risk assessment and reports.
Professional indemnity insurance is a wide cover specifically designed to deal with accusations of professional failure. This could be making a mistake, missing a crucial detail, negligence, failing duty of care and more.
The policy will be triggered when a compensation demand is made by your client. They may be refusing to pay your invoice because they believe your advice caused an issue. They could be asking for their money or demanding compensation because they may have been fined or lost custom due to your advice.
Public liability insurance for environmental consultants
If you are physically involved in your client’s businesses, having regular meetings, inspecting your client’s premises, operations and dealing with their staff, public liability insurance is essential.
It will protect you from claims of causing an injury or property damage. This is usually a low risk for consultants who don’t offer manual services. But unfortunate accidents do happen and public liability insurance for environmental consultants is an inexpensive peace of mind.
As an expert in your field you may be granted access to restricted areas. Knocking over an expensive piece of equipment causing property damage or injury could be costly.