Mistakes can occur in any sphere: a dry-cleaner’s might damage an expensive fur coat, a hairdresser might spoil a client’s hair, or an accountant may make wrong calculations, bringing losses to their company. Of course, professionals can take out insurance to alleviate the financial impact of such errors, but not all choose to do so.
Insurance company director Andrey Danilchik tells us, “There are several reasons why companies and individual entrepreneurs fail to protect themselves regarding employee negligence or carelessness. Firstly, most believe that nothing will happen, since they’ve already been working for five years or so without a problem. Secondly, few claims regarding property or health reach the courts. In most situations, parties prefer to settle the problem independently, out of court.”
Medical establishments often prefer to solve problems without excessive fuss, believing that their reputation will then be saved. Few cases of health claim damages come to light: in 2013, just two of 64 payments made by insurers were related to health issues. However, the head of the medical insurance department of a large company, Marina Kiknavelidze, is confident that professional medical insurance would enjoy demand if state hospital authorities would allocate necessary funds. She notes, “As an individual entity, a doctor cannot register for this type of insurance; it’s the responsibility of the medical establishment. Specialists need to request such agreements. It’s not expensive individually yet would be significant overall, since every employee needs to be insured. Some management heads see no tangible benefit, thinking they are paying ‘for nothing’. However, dentists and heads of private clinics well understand its necessity and importance.”
Accountants, auditors and individual notary officers are another matter since most professional insurance involves these specialties. Valentina Silina, a managing partner at Grant Tornton JSC auditing company, is confident that such insurance is needed, saying, “Risks are unavoidable. Although we have been working on the market for 20 years, and have no precedents, we always insure our employees. You need to draw correct conclusions and make good decisions in our sphere, or you can lose your clients’ money. Carelessness can result in losing documents too.” Ms. Silina believes that professional insurance gives customers peace of mind: which can be factored into fees.
At present, entrepreneurs and top managers are relying on luck but we all know that life is unpredictable. Misers pay twice!
By Galina Kravtsova
