Curated Risk's Clinton Stanger, who has more than 22 years of experience in the insurance industry, says it may be obvious to some but getting advice from specialised insurance advisers regarding PI cover would be a smart move.

Stanger says he's been signalling changes to PI cover for at least 18 months and with so much confusion around the increasing cost and availability of PI cover, it would make sense to speak to an expert.

He also says while the New Zealand Financial Services Group (NZFSG) and Financial Advice New Zealand (FANZ) have offered extensions to advisers waiting for group PI cover, advisers should act now and not leave it to the last minute.

According to Stanger, NZI, TAP, My Solutions, QBE and Dual NZ are offering PI cover to Kiwi advisers but a lot has changed since the new financial advice regulations came into force in March.

"Ironically, there hasn't been a lot of advice to the advisers," he says.

"As advisers, we should value good advice and as supporters of independent financial advice, getting advice from an independent adviser seems logical."

Regarding premiums, he says that "the market price is the market price and either you like the market price or you don't".

"Insurers in this space have got the same duties of conduct as we all have and they can't rort a premium to give themselves a large profit - they've got to base it on their experience and perceived risk."

Stanger says other PI issues advisers should be thinking about are new policy wordings, whether they should be insured under a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) or as an Authorised Body (AB), as well as renewals, runoff cover, defence costs and policy limits.

"We are talking to advisers who are engaged by a FAP who they are actively trying to disengage from, and since 15 March it has become substantially more difficult to disengage from your current licenced FAP.

"If an adviser is an AB or engaged by a FAP licence, and they now want to leave that FAP, then this is an added complication."

He says for risk advisers the importance of the wording and differences between products is significant and this is no different when it comes to a  professional liability programme.

"It seems in the rush to market this year the importance of the actual contract of insurance has disappeared.

"Even with a retroactive date which covers your past advice, a claim or circumstance which is notified after your new programme incepts is covered by that programme and that wording. 

"It does not matter what bells and whistles sat in the previous year’s wordings, the only policy which applies to a future claim is the one you select to insure with this year."