A career change – the tiler who retrains, the engineer who becomes a consultant, the contractor who moves from building to running a shop – ranks among life's big replanning moments. The insurance side, though, often gets left out of that replanning, even though there's work to do in two directions: building cover for the new activity, and closing down the old one properly. This checklist walks through both.
- Closing out the old trade doesn't start with cancelling the policy – it starts with the run-off cover question.
- Cover for the new trade calls for a fresh assessment – simply “relabeling” the old policy is rarely enough.
- In a partial switch (the new trade starts alongside the old), the two legs together need to be handled as one.
Closing out the old activity
☐ Clarify run-off cover BEFORE you cancel: under claims-made cover, a claim asserted after the policy ends is typically not covered – the availability and length of the extended reporting period needs to be settled while the policy is still live (run-off cover article).
☐ Estimate the tail period: how long does it typically take for errors in the old trade to come to light? (For bookkeeping, audit cycles; for construction work, the lifespan of the structure.)
☐ Open matters: is there an open claim, a “near miss,” a known circumstance? Report these while the old policy is still in force (first steps).
☐ Archive the old policy, terms and claims-history certificates – you may need them for years.
Building cover for the new activity
☐ A fresh activity assessment: the risk profile of the new trade can be a different world entirely (activity assessment).
☐ Rethink the type of cover: a manual ↔ intellectual-work switch also swaps the public-liability/professional-indemnity pillar (article on types).
☐ External expectations in the new trade: chamber rules, client norms in the new field (when it's mandatory).
☐ Align the start of cover with the start of the new work (when your cover actually begins).
Partial switch: two legs, one system
☐ If the old activity continues in part: both legs need to be reflected in the cover – the “once the new one's up and running” logic leaves the in-between period unprotected (multiple-professions article).
☐ Track the shifting balance: as the new leg grows, keep your disclosures up to date (change-notification article).
☐ If your company form changes (e.g. sole trader → limited company): the insurance consequences of the change of legal entity need clarifying separately – the new entity needs a new policy, the old one needs a proper close-out.
The insurance side of a career change is typically a one-off, plannable piece of work – but done in the wrong order, it can leave a gap that lasts for years. The best time to act is the planning stage of the switch: free consultation here – and for the complete picture: policy review.
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