Consultancy Insurance
Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane & Canberra

Start with the decisions clients make using your consultancy’s work. A board strategy paper, procurement assessment, operational improvement program and technical feasibility study can expose the firm to different allegations. Explain whether your team simply presents options or also implements recommendations, appoints suppliers, manages budgets and measures results. Include the industries you advise, the largest engagement and the intended audience for your deliverables. A concise business description is helpful, but examples of completed assignments make the activities more concrete. Tell the broker when another consultant’s work is incorporated into a report carrying your firm’s name.

The structure of the consultancy also matters. Identify partners, employees, subcontractors and overseas contributors, including who reviews their output before release. Explain any work performed under a client’s brand and any advice supplied through a related company. If you host workshops, visit operational sites or access client systems, those activities should appear in the discussion alongside professional advice. Ask how proposed insurance deals with confidentiality allegations, intellectual property issues and third-party reliance. These are questions about the wording and engagement circumstances; the presence of a professional indemnity policy does not by itself establish a response to every commercial dispute.

A useful engagement file connects the proposal to the final deliverable. It records the agreed question, information supplied by the client, assumptions, exclusions from the assignment and approval of changes. When a client asks for additional analysis during a meeting, document whether that request changes the scope, fee or deadline. Retain the version actually delivered, including appendices and qualifications. A later summary slide can remove important context from the original report, so establish who may adapt the work and whether you review that adaptation. Discuss contract terms that promise particular commercial results with appropriate advisers before accepting them.

Insurance discussions are more productive when you can show the clauses that allocate responsibility. Bring examples dealing with indemnities, confidentiality, reliance, liability limits and work by subcontractors. Check whether the client expects a policy to remain in place after completion and whether the requested certificate matches the contracting entity. Keep evidence of review and sign-off proportionate to the work: a short advisory session may need clear notes, while a substantial transformation project may require a decision register. The purpose is to preserve the reasoning and instructions behind the advice, not simply accumulate documents without a usable project history.

A disappointed client may first raise concerns as a request to redo work or reduce a fee. Record exactly what is alleged and distinguish a change of preference from an assertion that your advice caused loss. Keep the original analysis, supporting data and approval correspondence intact. Obtain guidance about notification requirements and the handling of any threatened claim, particularly before agreeing to compensation or accepting liability. If the report is still being relied on, identify which recipients have it and seek appropriate professional guidance about any corrective communication. Do not quietly replace a disputed document and lose the original version.

At renewal, compare this year’s engagement mix with the description previously supplied. Larger clients, implementation responsibilities, new jurisdictions or a move into regulated advice can materially change the discussion. Review whether completed assignments remain relevant to the insurance arrangements if a partner retires, a business is sold or a service line closes. Ask the broker to explain any retroactive dates, continuity considerations and notification provisions that apply to the proposed wording. Separately, consider how a second person could retrieve project records and meet urgent client commitments if a principal became unavailable. Clear operational arrangements support informed insurance decisions.