Important Information

Important information relating to this proposal form. You should read the following advice before proceeding to complete this proposal form.

1. Duty of disclosure

Before you enter into a contract of general insurance with an insurer, you have a duty, under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984, to disclose to the insurer every matter that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, is relevant to the insurer’s decision whether to accept the risk of insurance, and if so, on what terms. You have the same duty to disclose those matters to the insurer before you renew, extend, vary or reinstate a contract of general insurance. Your duty, however, does not require disclosure of any matter:

• that diminishes the risk to be undertaken by the insurer; that is of common knowledge;
• that your insurer knows or, in the ordinary course of his business, ought to know;
• as to which compliance with your duty is waived by the insurer.

 

Non-disclosure

If you fail to comply with your duty of disclosure, the insurer may be entitled to reduce its liability under the contract in respect of a claim, refuse to pay the claim or may cancel the contract. If your non-disclosure is fraudulent, the insurer may also have the option of avoiding the contract from its beginning.

2. Claims made and notified basis of coverage

The Professional Indemnity Insurance Policy is issued on a ‘Claims made and Notified’ basis. This means that the Insuring Clause responds to: (a) claims first made against you during the policy period and notified to the insurer during the policy period, provided that you were not aware at any time prior to the policy inception of circumstances which would have put a reasonable person in your position on notice that a claim may be made against him/her; and (b) written notification of facts pursuant to section 40(3) of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984. The facts that you may decide to notify, are those which might give rise to a claim against you. Such notification must be given as soon as reasonably practicable after you become aware of the facts and prior to the expiry of the policy period. If you give written notification of facts the policy will respond even though a claim arising from those facts is made against you after the policy has expired. For your information, section 40(3) of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 is set out below:

“S40(3) Where the insured gave notice in writing to the insurer of facts that might give rise to a claim against the insured as soon as was reasonably practicable after the insured became aware of those facts but before the insurance cover provided by the contract expired, the insurer is not relieved of liability under the contract in respect of the claim when made by reason only that it was made after the expiration of the period of the insurance cover provided by the contract.” When the policy period expires, no new notification of facts can be made on the expired policy even though the event giving rise to the claim against you may have occurred during the policy period.

3. Retroactive date

You will not be entitled to indemnity under your new policy in respect of any claim resulting from an act, error or omission occurring or committed by you prior to the retroactive date, where one is specified in the policy terms offered to you.

4. Subrogation waiver

Our policy contains a provision that has the effect of excluding or limiting our liability in respect of a liability incurred solely by reason of the Insured entering into a deed or agreement excluding, limiting or delaying the legal rights of recovery against another.

5. Average provision

If your policy provides for ‘Costs in Addition’ to the limit of indemnity and if a payment in excess of the limit of indemnity available under your policy has to be made to dispose of a claim, the insurer’s liability for costs and expenses incurred with its consent shall be such proportion thereof as the amount of indemnity available under this policy bears to the amount paid to dispose of the claim payments.

6. Privacy statement

Agile Underwriting is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information you provide us. Agile collects uses and retains your personal information in accordance with the National Privacy Principles.

We need to collect the personal information on the applicable proposal form to consider your application for insurance and to determine the premium (if your application is accepted) when you are applying for, changing or renewing an insurance policy with us. This information will also be used if you lodge a claim under your policy. We may also need to request additional information from you in connection with your application or a claim. If you do not provide us with this information, or any additional information we request, we may not be able to process your application or offer you insurance cover or respond to any claim.

We may disclose the personal information we collect:

1. To our relevant employees involved in delivering our services; ─ If your insurance broker collects this form from you, to that broker;
2. To facilitators such as legal firms, professional experts such as accountants, actuaries, ─ engineers and technology experts;
3. To the insurance companies with whom we transact business;
4. To insurance reference bureau or credit reference bureau;
5. To reinsurers or reinsurance brokers (which may include reinsurers located
   outside of Australia).

Where we do disclose the information as above the recipient may hold the information in accordance with its own privacy policies. Those may include, by way of example, disclosing the information to and storage of that information by its associated entities which may be located overseas. We may also be required to provide your personal information to others for purposes of public safety and law enforcement and if required by law or by a law enforcement body to do so.

You may request access to your personal information, and where necessary, correct any errors in this information (some restrictions and costs may apply). If you would like to access a copy of your personal information or you wish to correct or update your personal information, please also contact us on 1300 705 031.

By completing and returning the proposal form and providing us with any additional information in connection with your application, you agree to us using and disclosing your information as set out above.

This consent to the use and disclosure of your personal information remains valid unless you alter or revoke it by giving us written notice. From time to time, we may use your personal information to send you details of new insurance products or other insurance related information that may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive such information,
please advise us on 1300 705 031.

The Insurer

The Insurer of this Policy is Pacific International Insurance Pty Ltd acting through Agile Underwriting Agency Pty Ltd (Agile) as their agent.

Agile has been provided with a binding authority by the Insurers which allows us to enter into policies and settle claims on the Insurer’s behalf, subject to the terms of the binder authority.
In dealing with the Policy, Agile acts for the Insurer and not you.

It is recommended that the Insured seeks independent legal advice as to the appropriateness of this Policy.

Special provisions in the Insurance Act 1973 allow Underwriters to underwrite insurance business in Australia. Furthermore the Insurer and Agile are regulated by both APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) and ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission).

7. General Insurance Code of Practice

We support and adhere to the General Insurance Code of Practice. By incorporating these standards into our business, we are committed to providing the highest level of service to our customers, every time. Access a copy of the Code at http://www.codeofpractice.com.au/ or alternatively, contact the Insurance Council of Australia on 9253 5100.

8. Our complaints handling procedures

If You have any concerns or wish to make a complaint in relation to this policy, Our services or Your insurance claims, please let Us know and we will attempt to resolve your concerns in accordance with Our Internal Dispute Resolution procedure.

Please contact Agile in the first instance:

• The Complaints Officer, Agile Underwriting Services Pty Ltd
• Level 5, 63 York St, Sydney NSW 2001
• Telephone Number: 1300 705 031 | Facsimile Number: (02) 9335 3467

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and do our utmost to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction within 10 business days.