NAFD launches industry-leading professional indemnity cover

In another first for the profession, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) is providing funeral directors with an industry-leading professional indemnity insurance package which provides cover per member of £2million for any one claim.

Cover was switched from Royal and Sun Alliance to the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group on July 15 and as a consequence has been increased from £1million to £2million.

Bob Pluck, sales director of South Essex Insurance Brokers, who set up the new agreement on behalf of the NAFD, says: “The policy is designed to meet the needs of NAFD funeral directing member firms in respect of their legal liability for professional mistakes made in the provision of funeral services.  Businesses do not have to sign up for the cover; they automatically receive it as a benefit of their membership of the NAFD.

“We review the NAFD’s professional indemnity insurance policy on an annual basis and taking into consideration a number of trends in this and other industries have negotiated an enhanced package which provides a number of improved features for NAFD funeral directing members.”

In addition to cover being increased from £1million to £2million per member for any one claim, benefits of the new policy with the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group include:

• No inner limits except for theft of pre-payment fees and for lost or damaged business documents
• An excess of only £300, reducing to £100 for theft of pre-payment fees
  
• Cover of up to £50,000 for all claims in total in any one period of insurance for lost or damaged business documents
• Cover of up to £50,000 for any one claim and £500,000 for all claims in total in any one period of insurance for theft of pre-payment fee

The new NAFD group indemnity policy covers an individual member’s ‘professional’ liability to its clients as a funeral director and is provided on a ‘claims made’ basis, covering professional negligence claims made against member businesses that have been notified to the insurer during the period of insurance.  Cover is provided to every funeral directing member, irrespective of the size of their business.

South Essex Insurance Brokers is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.  During its 30-year plus relationship with the NAFD, the company has developed its credentials as an expert in the funeral sector, pioneering competitive vehicle cover and premises insurance packages, with numerous added value benefits, that are specifically designed to meet funeral directors’ needs.  

“In 2007, conscious that people are increasingly likely to turn to litigation in the first instance, even when a dispute has arisen over a seemingly minor issue, we took the decision to give our members added peace of mind and doubled the professional indemnity cover per member from £500,000 to £1million,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.   

“We remain committed to providing our members with the very highest level of support, which is relevant to their needs and takes account of the changing business environment, and I am delighted that we have been able to demonstrate this through another market-leading professional indemnity insurance package.”