Architects can retire from practice and from insurance premiums

The Retirement from Practice Program is unique to Pro-Demnity, providing eligible retired current and former OAA members with professional liability insurance coverage for the remainder of their lifetimes, and for six years after death for estate resolution purposes. For those current or former OAA members who retired prior to January 1, 2003, the Pro-Demnity Retirement from Practice Program replaces similar coverage previously offered through the OAA Indemnity Plan.

The Retirement from Practice Program provides the opportunity for an OAA member, including an OAA member who was an employee of a Holder of a Certificate of Practice, to:

1. “Retire” in the conventional sense – close a practice, and automatically be covered for previous work as a holder of a Certificate of Practice.
2. Surrender the Certificate of Practice and seal, but retain a licence (or not retain a licence) and work for another holder of a Certificate of Practice (i.e. another architectural practice) as an employee, or accept employment in government or industry, and automatically be covered for services previously provided as a Holder of a Certificate of Practice. 
3. Close a practice, and work in an unrelated field – and automatically be covered for previous work as a Holder of a Certificate of Practice. 

Coverage for eligible members or former members of the OAA commences on the Expiration Date of the professional liability insurance following the date of surrender of the relevant Certificate of Practice. The professional liability insurance cannot be cancelled mid-term. Where the Certificate of Practice is surrendered during the Period of Insurance, the professional liability insurance will continue until expiry, at which time coverage for the eligible individuals will automatically transfer to the Retirement from Practice Program. 

KEY FEATURES 

Claim Limit: $250,000 
Aggregate Limit: $500,000 
Deductible: $1,000 each and every claim 
Premium: $ nil 
Defense costs incurred by Pro-Demnity will not erode the funds available to pay damages. 

• Surrender of Certificate of Practice; 
• Participation in the OAA Indemnity Plan or being insured by Pro-Demnity Insurance Company for two or more years (not necessarily consecutive); 
• All financial obligations to Pro-Demnity Insurance Company, or to the OAA Indemnity Plan where applicable, being met – i.e. payment in full of premiums, deductible, taxes or levy applicable to the current or prior professional liability policies covering the individual’s professional services; 
• If a current or former OAA member continues to be insured for professional liability arising from the performance or non-performance of architectural services by any other insurance policy, the Retirement from Practice Program will not apply as they will already have insurance provided by that other policy. 

Subject to the approval of Pro-Demnity Insurance Company, any member or former member of the OAA who meets the above eligibility requirements will be insured under the program. 

A member of the OAA who retires from a practice which is ongoing is automatically covered by the ongoing practice’s annual practice insurance. However, if the ongoing practice subsequently decides to surrender its Certificate of Practice, then the current and former members involved in that practice will be covered under the Retirement from Practice Program – subject to the eligibility requirements being met. 

• Retirement from Practice Coverage is an individual coverage. The Retirement from Practice Program applies only to the retired individual (not to an architectural practice) who is not covered under any other architectural professional liability insurance. 
• Coverage under the Retirement from Practice Program applies throughout the life of the retired architect and is extended to cover the estate of the member or former member of the OAA for a period of six years after death, for estate resolution purposes. 
• There is no coverage under the Retirement from Practice Program for professional services of a member or former member of the OAA carried out while “retired” from practice. 
• A member who decides to “unretire” (takes out a Certificate of Practice as a sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation, or joins an existing practice as a principal) will be required to come back into the mandatory professional liability insurance program. Whatever coverage would have been provided to the individual by the Retirement from Practice Program during retirement will need to be covered under the insurance provided to a new or existing Holder of a Certificate of Practice. The applicable premiums respecting the individual’s past work “pre-retirement” will be rated according to his/her existing circumstances at the time, using Pro-Demnity’s rating process in place at the time. 
• The required two years’ participation in the annual practice program provided by Pro-Demnity Insurance Company (or by the OAA Indemnity Plan) do not need to be consecutive years. 
• Non-payment of premiums, levies, taxes and deductibles due to Pro-Demnity Insurance Company make the individual un-eligible for participation in the Retirement from Practice Program. 
• Payment of outstanding premiums, levies, taxes or deductibles after cancellation of coverage may result in reinstatement of eligibility for the Retirement from Practice Program, provided that the member or former member of the OAA is unaware of any claim or circumstance likely to give rise to a claim, and subject to approval by Pro-Demnity. 
• Where “retirement from practice” is triggered by financial difficulties including insolvency of the practice, any post-dated checks provided by the practice respecting the payment of premium applicable to the currentPeriod of Insurance that are not honoured when presented for payment, will disqualify architects who own or are employed by the practice from participation in the Retirement from Practice Program. In such instances, early notification to Pro-Demnity may facilitate alternate arrangements for payment to avoid ineligibility for the Retirement from Practice Program.
• Should a retiring architect wish to maintain higher limits than are provided under the Retirement from Practice Program, upon submission of an application, Pro-Demnity may seek a quotation for an “excess” limits policy to increase available limits to match those provided by the retiring architect’s professional liability limits at the time of surrender of the Certificate of Practice. The excess policy will be subject to annual renewal by the architect for as long as the retiring architect decides to maintain the excess limits. Premium for the annual excess policy will be the responsibility of the retiring architect.

The foregoing description provides a summary of coverage, terms and conditions only. The policy wording should be consulted for the actual coverages, terms and conditions. In case of a discrepancy between these summaries and the policy, the policy wording shall prevail.