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In the context of a profession that involves a high risk of causing damage to third parties and under the umbrella of the policy subscribed through Alkora, with the MAPFRE insurance company, members have the most technical coverage and conditions complete of the market. We proceed to answer the most common questions about our policy and professional CR.
What does my professional liability policy cover?
The Professional Civil Liability policy of the College insures all the activity I carry out as a technical industrial engineer, granting coverage to all those claims I receive for personal, material and property damage, derived from fault or negligence in the exercise of the activity of technical industrial engineer.
If I receive a claim arising from a job, does this job need to have a documentary check from the College for my insurance to cover you?
The professional work carried out by the engineer that is presented in some type of documentary support (project, certification...), will require to enjoy coverage through the collegial policy, have the visa, registration and/or technical documentary verification of the school
Through the documentary control of the works, the risk that Mapfre is insuring is guaranteed, enjoying a level of guarantee and security that reduces the Company's exposure to risk, which allows the collegial policy, with technical conditions and exclusive economic, enjoy health and stay in time.
How is the coverage of the school policy activated?
Professional civil liability policies are governed by the "claims made" clause, that is to say, based on a credible claim (meaning any written claim). In other words, an accident is identified with a claim, regardless of when I did the work, thanks to the unlimited retroactivity granted by our policy.
In addition, it should be borne in mind that all claims arising from the same cause of origin will be considered as a single claim, and the Company that insured our professional civil liability at the time we receive the first claim will have to take care of it for these facts.
Why should I be insured in the collegial policy if I work as an employee in a company that already has its own Professional Liability policy?
Due to the risks involved in engineering, it is very important to be properly insured. In addition to the fact that the company where you work has a professional civil liability policy, it is highly recommended that the professionals who are part of it also have insurance that covers their liability as natural persons and that accompanies them throughout of working life.
On the one hand, we do not know the coverage of the policy of the company I work for, which on numerous occasions does not cover the technicians in the workforce. In addition, the specific technical engineer who carries out the work is responsible for the damages that may be caused as a result of an error or negligence and the claim can be directed directly against him, without a claim being made to his employing company or or according to the right of repetition contained in art. 1904 CC: "Whoever pays for the damage caused by his dependents can repeat what he had satisfied".
Along with this, it can even be the case that the company disappears, that the engineer stops working there or retires and after the time, receives the claim directly, being helpless by not having a RC policy professional that grants him coverage, nor with the beneficial figure of the inactive, modality provided for in the collegial policy for the definitive cessation of activity.
What are the deadlines for them to claim against me for an error committed in my professional activity? When do these terms start to count?
First, it is necessary to differentiate between contractual and extra-contractual civil liability.
The contractual RC is the one that arises when the person who claims against us is our client, that is to say, there is a previous contractual relationship with the claimant. In this case, the limitation period is 5 years (until October 2015 it was 15 years).
The non-contractual CR is the one that occurs when damage is caused to a third party by action or omission. In other words, the one who claims us is a third party, there is no professional relationship with him. In this case, the deadline to claim is 1 year.
It must be taken into account that the terms start to count from the moment the injured party becomes aware of the wrongdoing. Let's imagine that the damages appear within 4 years of the completion of the work. The period of one year that the injured party would have to claim will begin to count from the time the damage appears.
The Building Planning Act (LOE) establishes terms that apply only to material damage in works related to the building process (not other types of works to which the general terms will apply). These terms are counted from the date of receipt of the work, and are as follows:
- 10 years: Defects affecting the structural safety of the building (foundation, supports, beams, etc.).
- 3 years: Defects in construction elements or installations that, even if they do not affect the structure of the building, make it unsuitable for the use for which it was intended.
- 1 year: Finishing defects.
The person harmed by defects in the construction will have a limitation period of 2 years from when these damages occur or manifest themselves during the warranty periods.
It should be borne in mind that the liability contemplated in the LOE begins to count from the time the work is finished. From that moment on, those involved in the construction process will be liable for damages that occur in the next 10, 3 or 1 year (depending on the type of defect). To this term, which is a term of expiry, it will be necessary to add the limitation period of 2 years, and this would be the time that the injured party would have to claim.
What happens if I withdraw from the collegial policy or the College and then receive a claim for work I did when I was a collegiate?
It is highly recommended and necessary that the member, once he takes a break from his professional activity, whether due to retirement, change of profession, etc. keep your insurance in force to have adequate coverage in the event of a claim. As we have noted above, the policy is activated as per the claim. For the purposes of determining coverage, the date of the first bona fide claim received will be considered as the date of the claim and, therefore, the Insurance Company that covered my professional civil liability at the time of the first claim
To have coverage through the college policy, you must be a member of the College that takes the insurance and be registered in the collective policy. In this sense, in the event of cancellation of the college policy or cancellation of the College itself, the policy will not grant any coverage in the event of receiving a claim, regardless of whether the member was insured at the time to carry out the work from which the claim derives.
This is why the collective policy gives the great advantage of having the free figure of the "inactive" which will allow me, in cases of definitive cessation of activity, to remain insured in the policy for all those claims that could reach me as a result of work done while I was active, thus covering the long statute of limitations in our profession. To be able to access this figure, I must have the status of a member of the College taking out the policy.
Will the policy cover me if I receive a claim for work carried out in another part of the world?
Yes. The geographic scope of the policy covers everyone, except the USA and Canada. Therefore, my activity will be covered by the work I do in any part of the world except in these two territories.