Each year the risk management team at informed by Planned Cover use the generally quieter month of January to review and update the Practice Guides which are available to Planned Cover clients and informed by Planned Cover subscribers.

There are currently more than fifty Practice Guides on topics related to risk management, contracts and professional indemnity insurance, which can be accessed through the client section of the informed by Planned Cover website using the client login.

Practices who are unable to locate their client login details should email their Account Manager at Planned Cover who will forward the query to us if necessary.

This year we amended the following Practice Guides to reflect recent legislative changes and case law as well as proposed reforms:

• AS 4904-2009 – amended to suggest some further changes to address the professional indemnity insurance risks of this Australian Standard agreement and deed of novation.
• Specification and Product Selection (previously Specification) – substantially re-drafted to include references to the Lacrosse judgment and the new NCC requirements coming into effect from 1 July 2021.
• Substitutions – amended to include reference to the recently introduced Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW).
• Unfair Contract Terms – substantially redrafted to provide greater detail on the unfair contract terms regime and proposed legislative reform in this area.

We also updated our Contract Review Service Practice Guide to clarify Planned Cover client entitlements to access the service and the types of documents which can be reviewed by informed by Planned Cover Risk Managers.

Should you have any queries in relation to the Practice Guides, please contact our Risk Managers at info@informedprofessionals.com.au

Natalie Sullivan
Risk Manager NSW

This article is only general advice in respect of risk management. It is not tailored to your individual needs or those of your business, nor is it intended to be relied upon as legal or insurance advice. For such assistance you should approach your legal and/or insurance advisors.