Poll: Do you have professional indemnity insurance? מפרסם התגובה: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have professional indemnity insurance?".
This poll was originally submitted by Jo Bennett. View the poll results »
| | | | neilmac
ספרד
Local time: 14:35
מספרדית לאנגלית
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I can understand why some translators might need it, mainly because of the clients they work with. However, I provide a personal service which is based on trust and I don't think a "professional" indemnity insurance is necessary with my current portfolio of clients.
| | | | Tim Drayton 
קפריסין
Local time: 15:35
מטורקית לאנגלית
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I would actually like to have it, but professional indemnity insurance for translators appears to be unavailable in the small Mediterranean island country where I live.
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I have already looked into it, but most insurance companies are not interested and the ones that provided an offer were much too expensive.
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Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 08:35
מאנגלית לספרדית
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| I wanted to know the reasons for asking | Mar 27, 2015 |
I do have it because one of my customers so require it.
Here in America, Hays Affinity offers discounted insurance for ATA-affiliated translators, but I found a cheaper alternative (https://www.hiscox.com/ ) for those interested.
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I don't have a specific translation-related policy but am covered under our general office policy (buildings, contents, public liability, etc).
It is irresponsible not to have any cover. You might not think you need it, but you never know when you could end up being sued these days. Even the best translators make mistakes sometimes, and I don't want my family to lose their home.
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Yetta J Bogarde wrote:
I have already looked into it, but most insurance companies are not interested and the ones that provided an offer were much too expensive.
Anyway, in 30 years I never had a serious complaint, only very occasionally minor changes…
| | | | | No safety net? No thanks! | Mar 27, 2015 |
neilmac wrote:
I can understand why some translators might need it, mainly because of the clients they work with. However, I provide a personal service which is based on trust and I don't think a "professional" indemnity insurance is necessary with my current portfolio of clients.
I'm taking a study break but when I was working, I trusted clients who trusted me to have PI insurance. Agencies require it, although I only worked with agencies occasionally and back in the late 1990s. I suppose it is also a throwback to when I was working as a litigation assistant in PI litigation in the UK and before that in shipping insurance.
Working uninsured is like not fastening your seatbelt or not wearing a helmet. It's only when it's too late that you realize it would have been a good idea. In most legal systems, the liberal professions do not operate under the veil of any incorporation and so their personal assets are directly exposed in the event of a professional mistake. No safety net.
The risk is minimal, the cover not expensive. Although it did take some insisting. When the insurer looked up "liberal profession", I was up there with surgeons and lawyers. However, when he did some decent background research, a multirisk PI did the trick and it added just a couple of euros to the usual professional insurance.
[Edited at 2015-03-27 12:11 GMT]
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Claire Cox
הממלכה המאוחדת
Local time: 13:35
מצרפתית לאנגלית
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I'm stunned that nearly 60% of respondents don't have PII and don't think it's necessary! For me, the key lies in the word "professional" and I agree fully with Nikki's comments. Yes, admittedly, you rarely hear of people making a claim, but then how many people do you hear of whose house has burned down? I certainly wouldn't take the risk of not being covered! Most professional translators' associations have affiliations with insurance companies offering suitable cover and the cost has really c... See more I'm stunned that nearly 60% of respondents don't have PII and don't think it's necessary! For me, the key lies in the word "professional" and I agree fully with Nikki's comments. Yes, admittedly, you rarely hear of people making a claim, but then how many people do you hear of whose house has burned down? I certainly wouldn't take the risk of not being covered! Most professional translators' associations have affiliations with insurance companies offering suitable cover and the cost has really come down over recent years: my current premium for a substantial amount of cover is £65 a year. It also covers things like public liability, accidental breach of copyright or confidentiality, compensation for court attendance and other legal aspects. I was initially required to have PII when signing a contract for a large direct client, but actually that's fine by me - it demonstrates that I'm serious about what I do.
I wrote a blog post last year about the whole range of insurance policies available for freelance business, including PII: not the most uplifting of topics, but insurance is one of those things you're really glad you have taken out should the worst come to pass...
https://clairecoxtranslations.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/insurance-matters-for-freelance-translators-are-you-covered/ ▲ Collapse
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Yes, the annual premium for the type of work most of us do is roughly equivalent to the cost of one solicitor's letter or 1/2 hour of his time. If you need assistance your annual premium will translate to the hourly rate you'll be paying someone else. And basically I'd rather not.
[Edited at 2015-03-27 21:24 GMT]
| | | | David Wright
אוסטריה
Local time: 14:35
מגרמנית לאנגלית
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| Could have been very important | Mar 28, 2015 |
Basically, I mucked up (to be polite) one job, a lending contract for valuable objects, by misreading lender and borrower at one point (the German words are very similar - Leihgeber and Leihnehmer). The clause in question concerned who was to obtain insurance. Fortunately after two years of the contract being in use, someone spotted the mistake, before anything actually happened. But: just imagine something had happened and it turned out the objects were not insured. That's the sort of reason I ... See more Basically, I mucked up (to be polite) one job, a lending contract for valuable objects, by misreading lender and borrower at one point (the German words are very similar - Leihgeber and Leihnehmer). The clause in question concerned who was to obtain insurance. Fortunately after two years of the contract being in use, someone spotted the mistake, before anything actually happened. But: just imagine something had happened and it turned out the objects were not insured. That's the sort of reason I have PI. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Châu Nguyễn
וייטנאם
Local time: 19:35
מאנגלית לויאטנמית
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| Depending on country | Mar 29, 2015 |
In my country, the benefit is not worth the investment so I don't care. Better have a saving for that than pay for an insurance service.
[Edited at 2015-03-29 03:08 GMT]
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Jo Bennett
הממלכה המאוחדת
Local time: 13:35
מגרמנית לאנגלית
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| Thanks for all the comments! | Apr 1, 2015 |
I had forgotten that I had suggested this poll, but am now very interested to read all your comments.
As a partnership of 3 freelancers we definitely have PII. The annual amount we pay is only equivalent to what we receive for one typical job and seems well worth it for the reassurance that we are covered if anything goes wrong. I can tell that some of you feel the same.
I can also understand that some either find it unavailable in their home country (although perhaps some of... See more I had forgotten that I had suggested this poll, but am now very interested to read all your comments.
As a partnership of 3 freelancers we definitely have PII. The annual amount we pay is only equivalent to what we receive for one typical job and seems well worth it for the reassurance that we are covered if anything goes wrong. I can tell that some of you feel the same.
I can also understand that some either find it unavailable in their home country (although perhaps some of the bigger insurers provide international cover?) and that some feel that it would not carry much weight in a legal dispute in their situation and with their clients.
Have a good Easter / Spring holiday everyone!
Best wishes
Jo Bennett
www.alphanumericassistance.co.uk ▲ Collapse
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