Agency PII to be launched for individuals

Three Professional Indemnity Insurers are on the verge of launching cover worth up to £250,000 for individual agents.

Under the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act, firms rather than individuals are required to have a PII policy in place to be able to practice.

Industry pundit Henry Pryor, who is involved with the launch, claims that the introduction of individual cover will allow firms to spread the cost of any financial reward due to a client as a result of an upheld complaint.

“If a complaint is a result of an individual’s wrong doing, the firm could counter sue against that employee’s PI policy.

“The total sum paid out will remain the same, but it can be spread between a firm’s PI policy and that of an individual.”

The aim is to reduce firms’ PI premiums while helping to make agents more accountable for their actions.

A spokesman for the National Association of Estate Agents says: “You could never ask agents to cover themselves.

“It would be very difficult for an insurer to handle since agents work as a team. It has to be, and should be, the firm that is covered.”

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