Can anyone advise me how much cover I should have? I am a full time employed CMIOSH H&S Manager but have been given the opportunity to do some freelance H&S officer/consultancy for an open air event with various stall holders / caterers / stage and PA system. I hope to do more events consultancy in the future if this goes well. The client has not asked me to provide a PI certificate. This is about me wanting to protect myself in the event a claim.

Buzz you need to take a step back and ask yourself how much can you be sued for? Like Zyggy I am with HISCOCKS and have cover for one million £££££ they are good IMO and if you go straight to them you avoid agent's fees.

I've got £1M PI and £5M PL. I had £1M for both for my first 12 months of work - then I got some work from a client that had a minimum requirement of £5M for PL - so I upped it. I don't think there is any exact science behind my client's required minimum amounts though! I'm with Hiscox and find that the cost is pretty reasonable.

Thanks you all for your helpful responses. Much appreciated. So £1m would seem to be a sensible minimum - especially as you pointed out FireSafety101 I need to consider how much I could be sued for (plus legal expenses). I am puzzled though why Trafalgar (IOSH's) suggested insurers with a 'discount' go as little as £50,000 cover in their online quote options. I have looked back at previous threads on this topic and Hiscox does seem to keep coming up as the one most people are suggesting. When I did an online quote it came out as cheaper than the IOSH recommended one. Zyggy, regarding Public Liability, I don't understand. This site http://tiny.cc/xcti0x says that you need public liability "if a third party suffers damage as a result of any physical work you undertake". Another one of my paid freelancing things is that I play in a band and I can understand why I need PL for that because I could set fire to the place through overloaded sockets etc (not that I would!), but if I am just giving advice or inspecting as a freelance H&S advisor/officer, wouldn't the liability for physical damage rest with the people causing the physical damage, or if I told them to do something that caused damage wouldn't any damages then come under my professional indemnity? Regarding contract of employment Ian. I have checked this in the past and it was fine. I think they updated the contracts of employment a couple of years ago so I better check again! I have registered with HMRC. Good to be reminded though!

Buzz, just to add to Stevie40's post, it is forseeable that you could cause harm to a client's operation by inadvertently touching something you shouldn't, by dropping the proverbial spanner in the works or introducing infection. For events, I am sure that others can come up with scenarios where you could cause mayhem. Whilst the likelihood of any of this occurring may be low, it is not a zero chance. Hence that is why insurers are successful in selling policies and at quite low cost.

Stevie40's comments at #8 about insurance surveyors reminds me of a tale, possibly apocryphal, told to trainee HSE inspectors in the late 1970s about an inspector who was inspecting a factory containing power presses and decided on, the spur of a moment, to physically test whether the interlocking mechanism for the guard of a power press was working correctly. Unfortunately, the intricate and highly expensive tooling fitted to the press involved was awaiting adjustment or modification. Therefore, when the press was activated, the tooling collided and suffered irreparable damage. This scenario was highly embarrassing for the inspector and also his seniors in what at the time was HM Factory Inspectorate, the body which combined with other inspectorates to become the HSE in 1975. Whether true or not, the tale's strong lesson for us trainees was to avoid doing anything with machines controls, etc., without clear prior consent from managers and/or other appropriate persons at workplaces. Also, if a machine needed to be operated, it was usually better to ask someone from the workplace to do so, preferably after having checked that this would cause no problem. If the tale was true, the company which owned the power press no doubt asked HM Factory Inspectorate to pay for replacing the tooling wrecked through the negligent action of one of its inspectors. This raises another issue: Unlike insurance companies which have liability cover for their surveyors, the government apparently has no insurance cover from any company for anything - including the actions of its numerous organisations and employees (including HSE inspectors), its buildings or vehicles, and is exempt from any legal requirement to have such cover. During my time with HSE I was told that part of the rationale for this is that it is cheaper for the government to pay out of its own funds for repairs or replacement of damaged or destroyed property/equipment or to settle valid claims made against it than pay what would be vast amounts in premiums to insurance companies.

You also need to be aware that Professional Indemnity is on a "Claims Made" basis, which means that cover has to be in force at the time the claim is made - not when the negligent advice was given. As a claim can be made up to 6 years after the event, you will need to maintain cover in place for many years after giving advice. Public Liability is on a "claim occurring" basis and cover needs to be in place at the time the accident occurred.

Buzz, Re the PL query, I guess that other posters have succinctly explained why it may be necessary & in the scheme of things, is relatively cheap compared to PI. With regard to contracts of employment, I can only speak from personal experience, but whilst working for my past three employers on a PAYE basis, I was able to take on external lecturing work & employment with Manchester United FC. The critical question posed by all three was whether there was a conflict of interest with my substantive posts, if not, then no problem!

quote=Ian Bell]If you are already employed, you will probably find its against your current contract of employment to undertake additional self-employed work. Also you will have to register with HMRC, as the Government will want a chunk of what you earn - its called tax.

You can purchase ongoing cover once retired, called residual I think, (or something like that) but you have to keep paying. It is worth all self employed considering.