A Jardine Lloyd Thompson Information Article

Professional Liability Insurance Upon Retirement
for Land Surveyors 
(Updated August 2000)

By: Roger A.H. Brett

As with most other professional practices, a Land Surveying practice is liable for third party claims that result from negligent acts, errors or omissions committed by any present or former Director, Officer, Shareholder, employee or Contract employee of the Named Insured. Should a claim be made against the Named Insured and fall within the respective Provincial Statute of Limitations (which varies from Province to Province), both the individual Land Surveyor and his firm may be found liable for damages resulting from the negligent act, error or omission. As the policy is written on a "claims made" basis, the claim by the plaintiff must be presented by the Named Insured to the Insurer during a valid policy period of insurance. If the policy has lapsed, as the Named Insured has retired, closed his firm down and gone to work in the public sector or is now working as an employee for another firm, Then he/she or they may wish to consider a Past Actions/Retirement policy.

When the C.C.L.S. Professional Liability insurance program was placed through the ENCON Group Inc. facility, it was also agreed that ENCON would provide at no cost to the prospective retiree, a retirement program. This program would provide cover for all Land Surveyors that were insured under the C.C.L.S. program for a period of at least two continuous years prior to their "Retirement" or their requiring "Past Actions" cover, subject to certain criteria. Some of these criteria are set out below however they are subject to change or modification, and the reader should check with JLT to ensure that there have not been any changes made since writing this article. At the time of writing this update article, the "Retirement/Past Actions" program is available at NO premium cost to C.C.L.S. members, subject to the following:

• The "retirement/past actions" program would not provide any protection for the "Firm". It is only intended to protect the individual Surveyor. 
• The "Retirement/Past Actions" program policy will only be called upon when all other ongoing practice policies have been exhausted or no other policy of insurance is available to the Insured. Therefore, any individual Surveyor that was an employee of an ongoing firm would first turn to the his old Firm's policy for protection and the terms and conditions of that policy would apply before any protection is afforded by the "retirement/past actions" program policy.
• Any Surveyor wishing to avail themselves of the protection offered by the "retirement/past actions" program MUST have been insured under a policy through the C.C.L.S. program commencing on June 1st. for a continuous period of at least two (2) years, after which the Surveyor must take out a one (1) year "Past Acts" extension to their practice policy, for a premium which is based on their last fiscal year fees. To obtain this extension under their policy, the Surveyor must advise JLT that he/she is retiring or closing his/her firm down, and will need to have the existing policy endorsed with a "Past Acts" date. This endorsement states that the policy will only provide protection for all work done before the declared "Past Acts" date. The intent of this endorsement is to provide the Surveyor a period of time to have his/her Accountant close out their company, and remove what ever assets there may be in the company, as no protection is provided for the Company name under the "Retirement/Past Actions" program policy.
• The Surveyor seeking to be insured under the "Retirement/Past Actions" policy, must be a member of his/her respective Provincial Association in an appropriate capacity and continue to be so each year, if they wish to continue to be protected by the "Retirement/Past Actions" policy.
• The limits and deductibles that the Surveyor may have under the "Retirement/Past Actions" program will be limited to the limits and deductible that the Surveyor had under the last practice policy that he was insured under.
• If the Surveyor is retiring and not working in any other capacity, then the Surveyor will have NO deductible under the "Retirement/Past Actions" policy.
• The Surveyor wishing to be insured under the "Retirement/Past Actions" program is required to complete, date and sign a one page application which will be sent out each year by the Surveyor's applicable Provincial Association. This application must be returned to the Provincial Association, who will verify that he or she is still a member of that Association and the Association will forward all application to Jardines for processing. At which time a new Master "Retirement/Past Actions" policy will be issued with an endorsement attached to the policy for each of the Provincial Associations, listing all the respective Surveyors that are insured under the policy and whether they are retired or covered for Past Acts as they now work elsewhere. A full copy of the policy will be found at the offices of each Provincial Association, it is NOT sent out to each retired member or member insured for past acts.

Footnote:
If you are a Partner of a continuing firm, and are considering retiring, you may wish to set up an agreement with the partner continuing with the firm, to add yourself as an Additional Named Insured under the existing practice policy. There should be no cost for them to do this for you. The agreement should also contain a clause, that states that the firm will provide you with 30 days written notice in the event that they should sell the firm or merge with another firm at a later date and they are no longer able to continue to insure you under the existing policy. This would then provide you with enough time to make alternative arrangements. 

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada Inc. is part of the worldwide Jardine Lloyd Thompson Insurance Brokerage Group. Jardine Lloyd Thompson and its subsidiaries specialise in professional liability insurance, handling of professional liability insurance claims and arranging captive insurance companies.

The information contained herein is believed to be accurate, but individual circumstances, local business and insurance practice and the Law can vary extensively and Jardine Lloyd Thompson and its associated and subsidiary companies are not responsible for any errors and omissions or any loss or damage arising from the use of this information. In the event of situations such as are described in this bulletin, the reader should seek legal counsel and specific advice from Jardine Lloyd Thompson or your Insurance Broker.

© 2000 Jardine Lloyd Thompson Canada