Insurance is an essential but expensive part of doing business and more and more contractors are requiring proof of insurance to register or bid. Insurance needs for development consultants include travel, out of country medical insurance, theft/fire/ and public liability for your place of business, including your home, and, recently errors and omissions or professional liability insurance.
These costs can easily mount up to over $1,000 per month, and errors and omissions is very difficult for some members to get as the insurers do not understand our business and dont know how to evaluate our risk. In addition, members have had problems with maintaining their home insurance if they are away for extended periods and the house is empty. While many consultants are part of professional associations, for example engineers, many others are not part of clearly defined professional groups. CAIDC has been asking our Offices of Liaison with the International Financial Institutions (OLIFIS) to clarify what professional liability/errors and omissions consists of for groups like economists, monitors, evaluators or gender specialists. All contracts contain provisions for non-payment if the work does not satisfy the client, but what other risks are there? Can an evaluator be sued for damages if a project is cancelled due to an unfavourable report? In the case of a suit, how will the technical competence of advice given by a gender specialist be defined? What are the sizes of potential losses?
In addition, several members have requested that the association look into cheap group insurance and the Board has formed a committee to investigate. How have you dealt with this in your professional practice? Do you have a good or bad experience to share with your colleagues? Do you receive good rates through an association that CAIDC could explore a partnership with? We would like your feed back.
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