34 per cent of buildings and 52 per cent of contents are underinsured. 68 per cent of small businesses have 'low' liability cover and have no business interruption cover. Underinsurance is relatively easy to determine for property insurance, either on a reinstatement or indemnity basis as there are tangible assets to value. For liability exposures, however, making a proper assessment is far more difficult. Factors such as risk exposure, cost, court decisions and the availability of cover have to be taken into account.
Solicitors have a dual interest in liability covers generally.
Secondly, solicitors need to protect themselves against their own exposure to general liability, professional negligence, directors and officers liability and so forth. Some covers are voluntary, while others are compulsory and these often raise different issues. Voluntary covers Tenants liability, property owners liability and general public liability insurance for private individuals is generally automatically provided by home building and contents insurance. If a person doesn't have either type of policy it is quite probable that they have no insurance at all. While it is possible to choose your own limit of indemnity, more often than not it is automatically built into the policy.