The case of the surveyor John Babb, who was found personally liable for a mortgage valuation he had given, looks likely to lead to professionals needing to take out personal liability cover.
Birmingham broker Perkins Slade is already working with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to develop a policy to give surveyors cover for any advice they have given.
Professional indemnity manager at Perkins Slade, Emma Quy, said the company was starting to negotiate with underwriters to see about providing personal cover in cases where companies have ceased trading, such as the Babb case.
She said: “It's in its very early stages. It's likely to be a few months before it appears.”
She added that members of the Royal Town Planning Institute were already able to take out cover against personal liability for the first six years after they retired.
A partner in law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, Jonathan Davies, said the case was unusual, but there would always be cases where partners had died or retired. “I think there will inevitably be similar cases in the future,” he said.
The question is whether the insurance industry would introduce new products to cover personal liability, he said.
He added: “It has traditionally been difficult to get products for long-term liability.”
A spokeswoman for Zurich said the case was unlikely to have much impact on solicitors' personal liability for advice, but she said there was a case for putting insurance together for other professions.
Communications manager at St Paul, Richard Gerrard, said: “It very much underlines the need for all organisations to have really effective risk management in place.
“Everybody in an organisation needs to be thinking about risk management and not imagine it is simply the concern of their employer and their insurers.”
