Service providers and independent professions: success factor trust

Whether it is consultancy firms, agencies, assessors or architects: for service providers and independent professions, keeping the trust of their clients is essential for their daily business. Our experts offer comprehensive protection against consulting errors, damages to reputation and other core risks of the industry.

Funk is one of the few German insurance brokers with its own division that deals exclusively with targeted coverage of existential financial loss and professional indemnity risks. In Funk’s Professional Risks team, we combine the know-how of experienced lawyers, economists and insurance agents with our market position as a technical insurance broker to find the right solutions for you, especially when it comes to liability. In addition to in-depth market knowledge, especially on D&O (Directors and Officers) insurance, E&O (Errors and Omissions) insurance, cyber risk insurance and criminal defence insurance, our clients also benefit from comprehensive risk consulting and professional claims management.

Overall, we support service providers and independent professions with:

Careful design and implementation of insurance solutions
Professional risk analysis
Installation of excess solutions and co-insurance business
Support and regular revision of insurance solutions
Implementation of project and object cover
Support and expert advice for mergers
Coordination with international insurance concepts
Competent claims support
Additional services and expert knowledge

A strong partner for service providers

All consulting companies, whether they operate in finance, law or in creative fields, are concerned with protecting themselves in the event of professional errors. Our experts for financial loss liability solutions know the specific risks of your industry and support you in the protection of your values:

Financial services

The market for financial services is extremely dynamic. Banks, investment companies, private equity funds and leasing companies are constantly confronted with legal and regulatory changes, e.g. regarding market regulation or cyber security. Furthermore, the financial and strategic operation of a consulting company involves a number of risks, which can result not only in serious financial damage but also long-term damage to the company’s reputation. Increasing digitisation also poses new challenges for financial service providers and raises additional need for cover. This complex risk situation requires a professional partner: As the largest family-run insurance broker and risk consultant in Germany, Funk offers financial service providers in-depth industry knowledge and market transparency on the insurance market.

Stricter controls on the one hand and ever higher demands from clients and consumers on the other have led to a sharp increase in claims in the industry. Additionally, due to the increasingly consumer-friendly legislation, fewer and fewer insurers are willing to insure risks in this area. Our Professional Risks team has been supporting the insurance programs of leading banks and issuing houses for many years. In an increasingly restrictive insurance market, our experts support financial service providers with up-to-date knowledge of applicable laws and guidelines and protection against their main risk: professional indemnity.

Consultancy firms

Consulting services, whether financial, business or legal, require a high level of trust in the consultant. Wrong advice can cause serious financial damage. At the same time, complex queries and consultancy requests often come with tight timeframes. This time pressure increases the risk of mistakes. Funk supports consulting companies with comprehensive, precisely tailored coverage that minimizes the risk of personal liability in the event of financial loss and helps prevent potential damage to the company’s reputation in the event of a claim.

In this context, the good reputation of a consulting company is its greatest success factor – customized risk management plays a decisive role in ensuring that this reputation remains undamaged. Our expert team works together with the client to prepare an individual risk analysis and recommends a matching insurance concept. The services include:

Tailored strategies and individual solutions based on the consultancy services offered by the client
Support, review and evaluation of basic coverage as well as additional coverage solutions
Expert advice on participating in tenders
Support by experienced lawyers in the event of a claim
Specific protection for insolvency administrators and insolvency-related consultancy firms, especially concerning liability claims

Agencies

Strong competition, large budgets and high time pressure – the typical characteristics of the marketing industry also hold risks for the creative work of PR professionals. Errors or omissions in advertising campaigns can cause considerable financial damage, for example if copyrights are infringed, advertising materials are commissioned incorrectly or personal rights are violated. In such cases, the client or a third party can hold the marketing agency directly responsible, which is liable for the damage with its own assets. If an agency is not sufficiently covered against these risks, liability claims from clients can quickly become a threat to their existence, especially when it comes to large-scale clients. Comprehensive professional indemnity insurance as part of a specific insurance solution for agencies covers these risks and offers marketing experts security for their creative work.

As an independent insurance broker with years of cross-industry experience in the market, we examine your agency’s individual requirements and recommend the appropriate covers – including professional claims management to protect your reputation:

Professional indemnity insurance covers financial losses caused by errors or omissions by the agency
First party loss insurance as part of professional liability insurance covers losses that arise from commissioning incorrect orders to third parties on behalf of a client
Office liability covers property damage and personal injury which occurs during office operation
Fidelity insurance protects against financial losses arising from theft, embezzlement or fraud by employees

Protecting independent professions

Members of independent professions are highly qualified specialists, whose daily work is characterized by complex matters and challenges. Trust in their professional competence is a major source of capital for lawyers, tax consultants and auditors, assessors, medical professionals and architects – and consulting errors their core risk. Our specialists advise a variety of independent professions on their individual risk situation:

Legal and business consultancy professions

Legal and business consultancy professions are facing growing challenges. The legal environment in which lawyers, tax advisers, auditors and certified auditors as well as insolvency administrators and notaries operate is becoming increasingly complex and subject to continuous change. At the same time, the demand mentality of these professionals’ clients is growing and the jurisdiction tends to become more client-friendly. Furthermore, there is a high need of adaptation due to the increasing internationalization in this area and the increasing formation of mixed law firms.

As a competent and reliable partner, our Professional Risks team implements insurance programs in a tight market and designs individual insurance solutions that meet all requirements of legal and business consultancy professions and their clients:

Lawyers: Support for companies and law firms of all sizes, also on an international level; specific solutions adapted to the customer’s client structure; excess cover to protect clients against the individual risks of law firms
Tax advisers and auditors: Market transparency for insurance solutions and current market developments; individual, adaptable solutions for the professional liability market; cover of special risks such as escrow accounts, disposition of funds, advisory/supervisory board activities, etc.
Notaries: Insurance solutions for the special liability conditions of notaries; adjustment of insurance cover to suit existing compulsory insurance requirements for professional chambers
Insolvency administrators: Installation of insurance solutions for increased and tightened liability conditions

Independent assessors and recognized experts

In many areas, the knowledge of recognized experts is indispensable, e.g. in court. Their work requires extensive qualifications and the utmost care, because any expert assessment or recommendation can have wide-reaching consequences. The liability risk is equally high for independent or publicly appointed assessors and recognized experts. Furthermore, a good reputation is a decisive success factor in this industry.

The classic professional risks for this group include:

Incorrect assessment or wrong decisions
Incorrect evaluation of samples or an analysis
Unauthorized disclosure of information
Loss of samples or documents
Examination errors or false advice

The decisions of recognized experts and assessors are being increasingly contested and frequently the experts themselves are liable as private individuals for any claims. Special professional liability insurance offers double protection for recognized experts: it covers not only all financial claims raised by third parties but also provides passive legal protection since each claim for indemnification is extensively examined by the insurer. As a long-standing partner in insurance matters for independent professions, Funk can provide competent advice for assessors and recognized experts from a wide range of fields when it comes to risk management, special solutions and excess cover as well as claims management.

Architects

One of the main risks for architects is that inadequate planning or faulty supervision can result in construction defects that may be unpredictable. Incorrectly calculated construction costs, contractual disputes with the client and disputes over fees are also among the classic risks for this professional group. An appropriate insurance concept can only reliably cover these risks if it is tailored to the planning activities of the architect – for example in building construction, in the field of structural engineering or general planning.

As an experienced industrial insurance broker, we use our expertise in the construction industry and our in-depth knowledge of the international insurance market to design individual solutions. Our experts support architects with:

Architect’s liability insurance: generally consists of a public liability and a professional indemnity component; covers all liability claims, e.g. from consulting, planning or construction monitoring errors – including direct financial losses as well as consequential losses
Professional claims management: competent advice in all matters concerning liability and claims; representation of your interests against third parties, for example when building defects or additional costs arise and it is not possible to clearly assign which party (draughtsman, structural engineers, implementation planners, construction supervisors, different contractors etc.) caused the error