If you run a small or medium practice, by now, changing up the way you do things has probably become second nature. As you continue to adapt your business to a fast-moving environment, it’s also important to ensure your cover stays up to date with your business’s circumstances. One way to do this is by undertaking a thorough review of your insurance cover. Some general housekeeping of your insurance policies can help you be sure the policies you have are correct and provide you with the coverage you may need. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve broken it down into five easy steps for you.

Step 1: Check the basics

Some of the easiest details to overlook on insurance policies are sometimes the most important. Basic details like your name, your business name and address can be easy to skim over, but if incorrect it can cause unnecessary hassle at claim time. Some things to check include whether all entities are shown, if the spelling is correct and whether the details are shown in full.

Step 2: Review your business description/professional services

Your business description is another area which is very important to keep up to date. Your insurance documents should clearly state all the services your business provides. If you are currently providing services which are not listed on your insurance policy, or conducting activities which are outside the scope of your qualifications, you may not be covered under your professional indemnity (PI) insurance.

This is particularly important if you’ve taken on new staff members or contractors who provide additional service(s) which are not noted on your insurance policy. Even if the contractor has their own insurance policy, your client could still sue you for the negligence of your contractor.

Some policies may default your retroactive date to the date the policy starts, which could leave you with a significant gap in cover. For retroactive cover... you must not have known about the claim or a circumstance that may lead to a claim.

Step 3: Assess the limits and sum insured

The sum insured (limit of indemnity) on your PI insurance is another area you’ll need to revisit from time to time and keep updated. In the same way that your work may change over the years, your sum insured should be reviewed, so you feel comfortable that the limit is still adequate for your needs. You should also be aware of any obligations you have, such as regulatory requirements, association requirements or even a contract you may have signed that requires you to maintain specific sums insured.

Step 4: Check the coverage details

This is another important element to check to ensure your insurance is providing you with the protection you need. The last thing you’d want is to pay your premium year after year, only to find out at claim time something you thought was covered actually isn’t. Checking the coverage under your policy will look different depending on the type of policy you hold.

To demonstrate, let’s take a closer look at PI and some of the features to keep an eye out for when your PI policy comes up for renewal.

PI has several features which should be understood to ensure you have adequate protection. To give context to these important features, you also need to understand the claims-made basis of PI policies. A claims-made policy responds to claims that are made against you and notified to the insurer while the policy is in force (during the policy period), regardless of when the incident that gave rise to the claim took place. For example, the incident may have occurred five years ago but if the client takes legal action today, it’s the policy that is in place today that can respond to the claim, as long as the services were provided after the commencement of the retroactive date.

It’s also important to ensure your policy will cover you for claims that arise from advice given in the past (usually, from when you first started practising).

This is why PI policies usually have a retroactive date. Preferably, the retroactive date would be the date you started practising to ensure any claims arising from a client you serviced previously can still be covered under your policy. However, not all insurance policies are created equal. Some policies may default your retroactive date to the date the policy starts, which could leave you with a significant gap in cover.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that for retroactive cover to be applicable, you must not have known about the claim or a circumstance that may lead to a claim.

The claims-made basis of your PI policy means you also need to notify your insurance broker as soon as you become aware of a claim/allegation, or a circumstance that may lead to a claim, even if you haven’t received formal advice of legal action. Even a subtle warning sign, such as a client mentioning they’re not fully happy with the advice or service you’ve provided, a verbal threat that they will take legal action or make a complaint, correspondence from someone stating that they were not happy with the services you provided, or if you realise you made an error – all of these things should prompt you to contact your broker. If you do not notify your broker of a concern of possible legal action or circumstance that could lead to a claim, it could result in you being uninsured if a claim was to result at a later date.

Step 5: Check your contact details

A final tip: make sure your broker can contact you. If you move business premises or change your phone number and email, ensure that you notify your broker. Failing to update your details may mean you don’t receive your insurance renewal documents, leading you to be uninsured. You may not even realise you’re uninsured until it’s too late. This is especially important to keep in mind if you’re about to go on a long holiday or not going to be contactable for a while.

Celebrating 10 years working with CA ANZ

Aon is the preferred PI CA ANZ Member Benefits partner for practitioners in Australia. In 2025, Aon and CA ANZ are proud to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of working together. As we reflect on our journey, we want to share a heartfelt thank you to our clients and members for supporting us and staying with us. It has been our pleasure to have had the opportunity to bring CA ANZ members a comprehensive suite of quality insurance cover tailored to the needs of CAs, exclusive member offers, and a variety of resources to help you stay on top of the latest small business and insurance trends. We look forward to further strengthening our alliance and continuing to empower and enable CA ANZ members to help protect their business and livelihood with great value, industry-leading cover.