CMS Professional Indemnity Insurance Seminar

Our annual professional indemnity event for insurance professionals took place in Cannon Place on Thursday 24 March 2022. A video recording of the event is now available to watch here.

As usual, the event  provided an update on legal issues of interest to all PI classes, as well as relevant content for specific sectors.

There were three presentations over the course of the morning, followed by an opportunity for networking. Please find the details of the sessions and speakers below.

Aggregation of cover and attachment clauses
Presented by Alaina Wadsworth and Zoe Burge
Providing an overview of recent case law, Alaina and Zoe discussed the latest interpretation of aggregation clauses in the professional indemnity context.

Duty of care
Presented by Robert Jones and Ed Foss
Through the lens of the Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP Supreme Court case, Robert and Ed explored the pressing topic in professional indemnity cases as to how the Courts are assessing a professional’s liability through the scope of the duty of care assumed by the adviser.

Observations on professional indemnity insurance in 2022 and predictions for the future
Presented by Stephen Tester
Stephen Tester has been a Partner in our Insurance and Reinsurance Group since 1988 and has over 30 years’ experience in handling claims against professionals and in advising on coverage and wordings issues. In the last session of our seminar, Stephen reflected on his time in the market, as well as on the current state of the law relating to professional liability and some special challenges that professionals and their insurers are likely to face during 2022 and beyond. His talk  touched upon:

• The current law on the professional’s duty of care and its direction of travel;
• Worrying trends, including the threat of class and group actions;
• The impact of technology on the defence of professional indemnity claims; and
• The current Civil Justice Council consultation on pre-action protocols.