One of the important findings during the Sherpa Insurance focus interviews* on the question of being sued by their client was the “it won’t happen to me”.
In fact 100% of Project People respondees stated that they believed would never be sued by their client. Here are some of the individual responses:
- “I never sign anything off”
- “I’m too experienced and competent”
- “No one is interested in a independent project contractor like me”
- “They only go after the big end of town – PwC, Accenture or the large strategy consulting firms like BCG or McKinsey.
- “I have never heard of a case of project people being sued”
- “I only have Professional Indemnity cover because my client requires it”
The fact is that we at Sherpa Insurance have poured through Law Reports and struggled to find Professional Indemnity cases involving independent Project People.
So are the Project People respondees right? Is there no risk of claim for independent project people? So we’re all safe then?
“Not so fast” according to the Managing Director of an established Project Person consulting firm of 80 staff and 15 years in the Australian market. It appears that most claim cases do not reach court and are settled beforehand, requiring the Project Person to defend themselves. Legal fees add up pretty quickly at $800+ per hour, not to mention the time cost of defence.
While a claim may not reach court, there is a greater risk of a Project Person having to defend a claim before it reaches court.
* 25 one on one interviews with independent Project People conducted between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015.
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