Professional Indemnity Insurance (March 2024): Quotes, Requirements, Costs

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Professional Indemnity Insurance UK

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance is a form of business liability insurance needed by those who give advice, provide a service or produce designs. It primarily protects against any real (or perceived!) financial loss incurred by a client as a result of a professional's business activities.

PI insurance provides financial protection by covering 1) the cost of legal defence and 2) any compensatory damages you're required to pay (unless compensatory damage has been excluded, such as for manufacturing professionals). It's one of many tools used to manage the 'people risk' of a business. Use this professional indemnity insurance wiki to learn what you need to know before you buy a policy.

Professional Indemnity Insurance Quotes

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Compare Top Professional Indemnity Insurance Companies

Best Professional Indemnity Insurance ProvidersNimbleFins Rating (out of 5)^^^Popularity (monthly search volume)Trustpilot / feefo Rating% bad ratingsTrustpilot / feefo # ReviewsCompare Quotes
AXA3.865204.56%1,355Compare
Hiscox^^324904.75%1,012Compare
Chiswell Insurance via Simply Business^2.904.316%3,881Compare
Direct Line2.973304.58%5,569Compare
Markel2.7904.114%148Compare
Aviva23480415%33,143Compare
Elements Insurance via Simply Business^1.3204.316%3,881Compare
  • ^ Trustpilot ratings reflect Simply Business because there are no online customer reviews for Chiswell or Elements.
  • ^^ Note, Hiscox had a high proportion of complaints relating to Covid-related claims that has driven their % of bad reviews higher than usual.
  • ^^^ To see how we calculated our rating, see our methodology section.

NimbleFins has read through the professional indemnity insurance (PII) policy wordings from a number of big, popular business insurance companies in the UK. We've also compared prices for PII from these same companies. We did this to help our readers cut through some of the information out there, because it can be overwhelming, and to help identify the best PII providers.

According to our comparison of features, terms, costs and other details, the best professional indemnity insurance company in the UK is AXA, followed by Hiscox and Chiswell Insurance. To compare the best professional indemnity insurance companies, NimbleFins dug deep into policy wordings, tested quotes for several different types of businesses and compared customer ratings for each provider. Here they are, ranked from best to worst. Read more about how we calculated this ranking in our methodology section at the end.

Top-ranked AXA stood out for covering the widest range of professions and coverage limits, although their prices were a touch more expensive than some broker-provided policies. Discount codes for AXA are often readily available through browser add-ons such as Honey, and AXA themselves will often notify you of available discounts at checkout, so whilst their base prices can seem high AXA wins out for breadth of covers available and pricing flexibility. If you call in you may get a discounted quote as well, all of which added together makes AXA our top choice.

Hiscox and Chiswell Insurance rounded out the top 3 providers for professional indemnity insurance for small businesses. Both have comprehensive offerings but offer them for less professions. The online market for professional indemnity is relatively limited, but if your profession is listed on an insurer's site and you can proceed even partway through a quote before receiving a decline it's worth calling that insurer to see if they can cover your business.

What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Consider this if you give advice, provide a service or produce designs in a professional capacity.
  • Who needs it
    • If you give advice, provide a service or produce designs in a professional capacity.
    • What it covers
      • Claims made by clients that your business activities resulted in real or perceived financial loss due to negligent advice or service.
      • What it pays
        • Legal costs and settlements/court-ordered compensation.
        • How much it costs
          • From £85 to £1,000s per year, primarily depending on type of work done.

          Professional liability insurance primarily protects individuals and businesses who sell their expertise. It provides financial protection (in the form of legal defence costs and compensation payments) if any negligent acts, errors or omissions in the advice or service you provide cause an alleged financial loss or damage to a client—and they sue you for it.

          What Does Professional Indemnity Insurance Cover?

          Professional liability insurance primarily covers you for legal defence costs and compensatory damages if a client claims a financial loss because you've delivered negligent advice or service.

          Professional indemnity (PI) insurance covers the costs of a legal defence and compensation if you're found liable for a covered event or situation (e.g. your advice, service or designs) resulting in a financial loss to a client. It can also cover the cost of settling a matter out of court.

          While exact coverage will vary from policy to policy, PI insurance can cover lawsuits arising from the following types of claims:

          • Negligence or breach of duty: negligence or breach of a duty of care (e.g., giving incorrect advice, making a mistake or failing to deliver what was promised)
          • Negligent misstatement: negligent misstatement or negligent misrepresentation
          • Intellectual property infringement: copyright, trademark or moral rights infringement or passing-off (misleading customers that a good or service belongs to a different party)
          • Breach of confidentiality: breach of confidence or misuse of information that is confidential or subject to statutory restrictions
          • Defamation: slander, libel or other damage to the reputation of someone or some business
          • Dishonesty: dishonesty of partners, directors, employees, sub-contractors or outsourcers contracted to you and under your supervision (however, it’s worth checking specific exclusions to see if dishonesty of directors/partners is covered, as it is often subjected to caveats or even excluded)
          • Computer virus: negligence or breach of a duty of care related to computer viruses, data hacks, denial of service attack, etc. (however, the trend has been to remove this coverage from PII policies, so a separate cyber and data policy would be needed; also often 'non targeted' viruses are excluded, i.e. Any broad spam virus or something which is sent around by bots)
          • Other civil liability: Policies with civil liability cover tend to cover everything except what is specifically excluded by the policy wording (i.e. cases which haven't yet been categorised will be covered); policies with no civil liability coverage will cover nothing but the specific examples listed under 'what is covered' (i.e. the case must be listed on the documentation for it to be covered)

          Even if you are extremely diligent and honest, mistakes can happen. And even if you haven't done anything wrong and a claim is not justified, you'll still need to defend any liability claim made by a client or third party, which can add to up thousands of pounds.

          Professional indemnity insurance (PII) can go by other names, depending on your geography or field of work:

          • Professional liability insurance. More common in the US, while "professional indemnity" is more common in the UK.
          • Errors and omissions insurance (E&O). Less common in the UK.
          • Medical liability insurance. For medical professionals, including nurses and dentists; also referred to as "medical malpractice".
          • Media liability insurance. For media professionals such as those in advertising & marketing, TV, film or theatre production, publishers and broadcasters.

          PII might be the only type of liability insurance needed. It can also be a good complement to other types of general business liability coverage you might need, such as public liability (which covers third party injury or damage claims) or employers' liability insurance (which is required by law to protect against employees who are injured or fall ill due to their work).

          Quick takeaway: You're likely to need professional indemnity insurance if errors in your professional advice or services can result in a loss to your clients (whether you’re paid or not). Professional indemnity insurance covers the cost of your legal defence and compensatory damages related to advice or services you provided.

          Personal PI Insurance (e.g. for Sole Traders and the Self Employed)

          Personal professional indemnity insurance can be purchased if your company has not supplied it for you or if you're operating as a sole trader or self employed. Beware a client stating that their insurance will cover you as a subcontractor, as it's very likely that they are covered for your errors and omissions whilst working for them, so their policy will respond when a claim comes in for your work.

          However, it's equally likely that their insurance company will then take up the claim for compensation against you to recover the damages. So yes, your work is covered whilst it’s being passed off as your clients' work, but no, you are not covered—which is why it’s critical to get your own professional indemnity insurance if you’re working as a sole trader or self employed.

          Professional Indemnity Examples

          To give you an idea of how PI cover works and the types of situations it can cover, here are some examples of situations when professional indemnity insurance might protect a business (depending on the terms of the policy, of course):

          • An architect designs a building that has to be halted midway through construction due to an error in the design. At great expense, part of the completed works have to be redone. The architect is sued for the costs and claims on their professional indemnity insurance to cover the costs. The engineers he subcontracted for calculations are then sued by the architect's PI provider to recover costs, as theirs was the initial mistake resulting in the design error.
          • A financial advisor gives a client financial advise that leads to a loss. The client sues the advisor for professional negligence.
          • A public relations company contracts a printing company to print posters for a company event. The posters are delivered a week late, and after the date of the event. The PR firm sues the printing company for breach of contract.
          • An accountant makes a significant mistake on a company's bookkeeping records that results in a financial loss to the client.
          • An interior designer recommends an expensive living room suite to a client, but the fabric did not meet the spec of "child and pet friendly" and is quickly ruined. The client sues the interior designer for the replacement cost of the furniture.
          • A management consultant is hired by a food distributor to improve profitability. The food distributor implements the management consultant's plan, but a year later the food distributor's profit margin is significantly lower and they sue the management consultant.
          • A garden designer is hired to plan an elaborate and expensive garden. Within a year of the garden being built, most of the plants are dead. The garden owner alleges the plants were not suitable for the soil and sun aspect.

          Why is Professional Indemnity Cover so Important?

          PI insurance is critical because litigation is becoming more common, legal costs are expensive and compensation awards can be BIG (tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of pounds). Without PI cover in place, you/your business could be at risk. Not to mention that your clients could be exposed if you do make a mistake.

          Who Needs Professional Indemnity Insurance?

          Generally speaking, a person or business that provides professional advice, knowledge, skills or services might need professional indemnity insurance, also known as professional liability insurance, as part of their business insurance package. It will protect against legal defence costs and compensation payments to clients if you're taken to court for making a mistake, giving poor advice, being negligent, etc.

          Really, there are three reasons that someone might decide PI insurance is 'needed':

          1. PI insurance could be desired by a professional or business owner to protect assets in case of a claim from a client.
          2. It could be demanded by clients (as PI insurance essentially protects both clients and professional businesses).
          3. Some professional bodies and regulators legally require members to hold professional indemnity insurance due to the inherent risks of a certain profession.

          For example:

          Professions that probably need professional liability insurance

          Examples of additional professions that should consider professional liability insurance

          • Advertising agencies
          • Business analysts
          • Charities and associations
          • Construction managers
          • Construction professionals
          • Consulting engineers
          • Designers
          • Digital agencies
          • Educational establishments
          • Event promoter
          • Freelancers
          • IT professionals
          • Management consultant
          • Marketing companies
          • Media companies
          • Mortgage intermediaries
          • PR agencies and designers
          • Professional consultants
          • Recruitment agents
          • Security consultants (may be required by HSE)
          • Software developers
          • Tradesman
          • Writers for trade journals or magazines

          What is Not Covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance?

          General professional Indemnity insurance typically does not cover defective workmanship or any defective materials, deliberate acts or omissions, criminal acts, bodily injury (except in the case of medical malpractice or due to professional negligence), property damage, employment claims or personal and advertising injury.

          Bodily injury and property damage are difficult ones and should be considered on a per policy basis because in construction, for example, a liability loss can then be translated into a negligence claim against someone else, where the proximate cause is bodily injury/property damage (BI/PD). For example, a health and safety consultant would find a policy excluding BI/PD to be almost useless to them and it's in nuances like this that the varying premiums you see for PI appear.

          To cover these risks, you’ll want to complement your Professional Liability Insurance with product liability insurance, public liability insurance or employers' liability, as needed.

          In some cases, compensatory damage is excluded. 'Consequential loss' is often excluded from policies for manufacturing professionals, and others whose work could cause a large knock on effect. So if you advise someone on their production line and the line breaks, you are not covered for the lost product which that line would have produced in the time it takes to get the line up and running again.

          Average Professional Indemnity Insurance Cost UK

          While the average cost of professional indemnity insurance for small businesses in the UK starts from as little as £45 to £1,500 a year, prices can reach into the tens of thousands of pounds for even a mid-size company—for instance an architect with £1M in turnover. Prices depend mostly on the type of work you do and your turnover each year (and the size of your largest contract each year).

          In our guide to PII costs, we discuss how other factors like your attitude to risk and the processes you have in place to prevent losses also factor in, as well as your experience and the nature of your services within your line of work. Soft qualities like being rude can even affect your cost of professional indemnity insurance.

          Professions like architects can pay a lot more because a mistake can have significant financial repercussions. For example, an architect's mistake could mean that a building has to be partially demolished and then rebuilt—at great expense. And if your activities are deemed "riskier" (say you are a management consultant involved in accountancy or tax advice, investments or financial services, M&A, insolvencies, liquidations, receiverships or turnaround management) then you'll not only pay a higher premium, but you could have a harder time finding cover.

          All that said, let's get an idea of starting costs for PII. Below we have some sample quotes for a test business to show how prices vary across industries. These are sample quotes only; you may need to pay less, or a lot more.

          Chart showing the cost of professional indemnity insurance in the UK
          Sample Professional Indemnity Costs (£2,000,000 of cover)Average Premium
          Independent Financial Advisor£47
          Software developer£114
          Management consultant£174
          Commercial Builder£300
          Architect£1,374

          These quotes reflect the average of the 3 cheapest premiums we found for professional indemnity quotes online. Sometimes, it's not possible to find quotes online, however. For example, we ran some test cases with Hiscox and found they'd provide quotes online for an accountant that performs audit work, general accountancy, payroll and personal tax consultancy—but they wouldn't offer an online quote for an accountant performing secretarial work or share registrations. This is just one example, but it shows how underwriters can be less keen to cover 'riskier' work, especially when people try to buy online.

          And remember, the best professional indemnity insurance for you might not be the cheapest. Be sure to check details of the policy looking for exclusions and details such as the coverage limit, whether the limit is per single claim or in aggregate, if there are limits on the legal fees covered, any excess, etc.

          Factors Affecting PII Premiums

          Professional Indemnity insurance is priced based on the specific risks of your business. Your business structure can even make a difference—for example, liability insurance for a limited company can cost more than if you're self employed. But there are many factors affecting professional indemnity premiums, including surprising factors like your handwriting and manners!

          When quoting a Professional Indemnity insurance product, an underwriter will take into account many factors, including:

          • Level of cover
          • Your experience
          • Size of your business (annual turnover, as well as the size of your largest contracts)
          • Specific work you do
          • Internal sign off and review practices
          • Jurisdiction of contract
          • Business structure (e.g., sole trader, partnership or limited liability company)
          • Number of directors or partners
          • Age of directors or partners
          • National or international accreditations
          • How nice your website is
          • The reviews you have online
          • Claims history
          • Number of employees
          • Client requirements

          Businesses that face higher proven or projected risks will pay higher premiums than businesses viewed as lower risk, all else equal. Learn more about how underwriters calculate premiums here. For example, following the global financial crisis surveyors were heavily claimed against for their high valuations on properties resulting in losses to home owners and banks. Now anyone carrying out valuation work is likely to pay 8-30% of their turnover in insurance premiums, despite the entire sector being well aware of the risks involved and there being plenty of compensatory measures in place now. So the real risk is low but the insurance industry remembers being burned.

          How Insurers Price PII Policies

          Insurance underwriters perform their own internal risk calculations that can vary considerable and result in very different quotes from different insurance companies.

          As part of the risk assessment, underwriters will gossip with brokers, snoop online, check LinkedIn, read reviews and go on Wikipedia, and all of these can in some way bias their final premiums. They try to get as broad and deep a view on the target business as possible when calculating premiums and there's no 'underwriting checklist' that can be written for the vast range of businesses out there—it's more of a mindset of risk, with every new piece of information ticking up or down the premium. This is one reason quotes can vary so much from one insurer to the next.

          Also, quotes could have more to do with an insurer's internal risk management than with your business specifically. For example, if an insurer decides they have written too many Professional Indemnity insurance policies for contractors lately, their risk appetite for writing new contractor liability policies may be quite low. As a result that company's quotes for new contractor liability policies could be much higher than the rest of the market.

          And if an insurer's loss ratio for that profession is poor, their appetite for those policies will be low, versus another profession which may have a great loss ratio getting really low quotes despite being considered high risk everywhere else on the market.

          Due to these factors and more, different insurance providers can quote VERY different prices for a similar cover. For example, when we priced cover for a software developer and management consultant we found that quotes from Hiscox (a higher-end brand) were 4X to 5X more than the cheapest plans in the market. However, this could be down to hugely varying qualities of product (open, broad cover vs. very restrictive cover) or underwriting. It’s worth investigating policies that seem too cheap as you may get what you pay for.

          Considering all of this, it is always worth comparing how different insurers will price Professional Indemnity cover for your business—whether you are renewing or buying your first policy for a new small business. And to look into the exclusions and restriction on a policy before signing up.

          How Much PI Cover Do I Need?

          Professional indemnity is usually sold with a limit of insurance between £50,000 and £5,000,000. The first question frequently asked by businesses needing professional insurance is often: 'How much PI coverage do I need?' Answering this question requires some specialist knowledge, which is why a lot of businesses use a experienced broker to help them with the process. And professional bodies often dictate the minimum PI insurance requirements for a business, so if you or your business is a member of a professional body it's critical to know what the rules are.

          Minimum insurance requirements from professional bodies

          Member of a professional body? They might have their own rules about minimum professional indemnity insurance limits that you'll need to follow. For example, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requires insurance intermediaries to hold a minimum of €1,250,000 for a single claim and the higher of €1,850,000 and an amount equivalent to 10% of annual income (max £30 million) in aggregate.

          Members of the Architects Registration Board (ARB) needs at least £250,000 of PI cover for each and every claim; ACCA requirements for accountants depend on the level of fees earned each year (the highest fee is also a factor in the calculation), but start at £50,000 and can reach £1 million or more.

          Below we've assembled links to some of the larger professional bodies in the UK, with links to their professional liability insurance requirements so you can learn more about the rules that apply to your business:

          Professional bodyField
          Architects Registration Board (ARB)Architecture
          Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)Finance
          Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)AccountancyACCA Professional Indemnity guidance
          Chartered Institute of Management Accounts (CIMA)AccountancyCIMA Professional Indemnity guidance
          The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accounting (CIPFA)AccountancyCIPFA Professional Indemnity guidance
          Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)AccountancyICAEW Professional Indemnity guidance
          Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)AccountancyICAS Professional Indemnity guidance

          What to expect when buying Professional Indemnity Insurance

          Before calling a provider

          Before you approach an insurer or broker, think about the areas of greatest concern for Professional Indemnity claims – any element of your business involving giving or using your professional skills. This can be carrying out calculations, advising on one product over another, directing clients on the best course of action, or any other form of advice or service where you have specialist knowledge.

          Prepare to answer questions on your business activities and financial statistics e.g. percentage of turnover from different activities or sources, contract legal jurisdictions, and use of subcontractors. Remember that if a client receives calculations from you (even if they are generated by subcontractors), a claim can still be made against you in the first instance; your insurance will then cover the costs of a claim against your subcontractor (who should have their own insurance!).

          It’s best to start looking for insurance at least 30-45 days before renewal/start date to make sure you have time to answer insurer queries and review your quote documentation.

          During a quote

          Your insurer or broker will ask you for details as above and you may need to complete a proposal form – this is your signed statement as to the activities of your business, and it’s important that you complete this neatly and thoroughly – a messy or incomplete proposal form can prejudice insurers against you. If in doubt, call your provider to clarify details.

          Be prepared to answer questions about your financial history, and expect to have a discussion about acceptable terms, conditions, and exclusions for your potential policy. Be patient and remember: the more accurate information you can provide at this stage, the quicker and cheaper your eventual quote will be.

          Depending on underwriter/insurer queries, you may need to arrange follow-up calls to provide further information. Quotes can take anywhere from an hour to a few weeks to finalise.

          After receiving a quote

          Once you have your quote, make sure to review it thoroughly - you will need to look through all terms, conditions, clauses and exclusions and contact your insurer or broker to discuss each to make sure you understand what you are being covered for exactly and what is expected of you.

          At this stage you can take your proposal form and quote to other insurers/brokers to see if there are better or cheaper options to be had. Be aware that many brokers use exactly the same insurers. You can request that your current broker disclose which insurers they have approached. Make new brokers aware of this so they can approach different insurers – this makes sure no ground is re-trod and your company doesn’t get a bad reputation for flooding the market with quote requests each year – insurers tend to stop quoting if they suspect this is the case.

          During the life of your policy

          Whichever insurer you choose, make sure to update them to changes in activities, income or contractual terms as soon as you know of them. This makes sure you have appropriate cover throughout the life of your policy but in the case of reduced risk or turnover it can also mean discounts. Lastly, it will ensure you maintain a good relationship with your provider – no insurer likes scrambling to rewrite a completely changed policy at the last minute!

          Where can I get Professional Indemnity insurance quotes?

          Consider this if you give advice, provide a service or produce designs in a professional capacity.
          • Who needs it
            • If you give advice, provide a service or produce designs in a professional capacity.
            • What it covers
              • Claims made by clients that your business activities resulted in real or perceived financial loss due to negligent advice or service.
              • What it pays
                • Legal costs and settlements/court-ordered compensation.
                • How much it costs
                  • From £85 to £1,000s per year, primarily depending on type of work done.

                  There are three ways to get professional indemnity insurance: comparison engines, brokers and direct insurers.

                  If you have very simple needs and you don't present much risk to an insurer (e.g., a sole trader consultant carrying out low-risk work) then you might be able to source a policy at a low price going direct to a company like Direct Line, AXA, Allianz, Hiscox, Markel, Aviva or Qdos. If you shop direct, it’s a good idea to call up the 3 providers offering the best quotes to discuss your activities and the cover offered. You'll immediately get a feel for how well they understand your business and how well they understand their own policies.

                  However, if you run a larger company or operate in a riskier field, or you just want to get a sense of costs in the wider market, you'll probably need to use a comparison site (sometimes you can even buy professional indemnity insurance online) or a broker. With current market conditions, some professionals might have trouble finding professional indemnity insurance. This is because, after the Grenfell tragedy, the professional indemnity insurance market has hardened. And continues to harden and get more highly priced as of 6 months ago.

                  You can compare professional indemnity insurance quotes here for both companies and sole traders. After filling out a short form you'll be put in touch with up to five insurance providers—this can be a combination of brokers and direct insurers. As PII is a specialist market, this is a good chance to discuss your business, ask questions and decide how much professional indemnity insurance you need. Then simply choose the cover that offers the best price and features for your business.

                  In many cases, while you can fill out a quote form for professional indemnity insurance online, you may need to speak with a broker or agent before you're offered a quote. This may happen if an insurance provider/underwriter feels they need additional information about you and your business before they can price coverage for you.

                  Can you buy PII insurance directly from an insurer, or do you need a broker?

                  In most cases, a professional indemnity insurance policy is arranged through a broker in the UK. As PII is a specialist product, a business can need quite a bit of guidance and support to ensure they find the right cover (from an insurance company or a Lloyd’s Syndicate) at the right price. A broker who is an expert in PII can help navigate the market.

                  But keep in mind that some UK brokers know very little about PI, and they can be more useful as a 'liability buffer' i.e. Someone else you can sue for negligence for failing to protect you from a claim for negligence by misrepresenting you to insurers. They are, however, another link in a chain where clarity of understanding is critical. A broker's mistake can cost you thousands in premium or tens/hundreds of thousands in claimed losses.

                  Choose very carefully and know that, especially in the PI sphere almost all brokers go to the same few insurers for quotes. If you flood the market by going to multiple brokers you can end up being blacklisted by insurers or even stuck with whichever broker called 'dibs' first—and it's unlikely that the fastest broker is the most accurate one, especially with professional indemnity where often several calls back and forward are required for a full understanding of the risks a business is exposed to.

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                  That said, you can buy professional indemnity direct from Direct Line for Business, AXA, etc. without using a broker. FYI, while Direct Line offers an online quote system, we've found that after filling in your details you won't get a quote—you still need to call in to talk to an insurance agent.

                  While going direct can seem convenient and result in lower fees, keep in mind that the agent works for the insurance company (e.g., Direct Line, AXA, etc.) not for you and will only price their in-house PII product; on the other hand an insurance broker (while they charge arrangement fees) should put your application out to a number of insurers to help find you a competitive price.

                  What to look for in a PII broker

                  Most businesses seeking a professional indemnity policy will work through a broker, but are all brokers the same? Absolutely not. Brokers have varying fee structures and specialise in different niche markets (e.g., accountancy, finance, design, etc.). In addition, not all brokers work with all insurers, and vice versa.

                  Top Tip: There are a lot of brokers in the PII market, but there is a much smaller pool of underwriters. While it can be useful to test out more than one broker, be wary of doing so because they might all be sending your details to the same set of underwriters—a situation better avoided. Before asking a broker to get quotes for you, be sure to enquire about which underwriters they'll use. This is useful to avoid overlap, and also to ensure that you get sufficient coverage of the market.

                  • Insurers: Which insurers does a broker usually place business with? And which insurers do they not have a relationship with? And will they notify you before sending your proposal to new insurers?
                  • Niche: How much business does a broker place for businesses in your field?
                  • Fees: What fees does a broker charge to arrange a policy for you?
                  • Finance: Can a broker arrange monthly payments if you need them, and if so, what it will cost?

                  Finally, check customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Reviews.co.uk and Google to see what real customers have to say. For example, customers have rated Professionalindemnity.co.uk with 4.1 stars out of 5 at Trustpilot. When checking reviews be sure to look at the one-star reviews as these indicate a 'bad' experience. Look for references about ease of contacting customer service, speed of getting insurance documents, claims experiences and renewal prices. Also check the number of reviewers. In the case of Professionalindemnity.co.uk there were only 11 customer reviews when we checked, which is a pretty small sample so less reliable.

                  How to Get a Discount on PI Insurance

                  Brokers have two 'levers' they can pull to change premiums. They can reduce their fee if they are trying to be competitive with other brokers or insurers, but they can also increase or decrease their commission with the insurer they are placing the business with.

                  If a broker gets some understanding of the premium you are looking at elsewhere, and they can come in a lot cheaper, it's more likely that they will mess with their fee and the commission rate to come in, say, 5% cheaper than your other quote even if they can actually get the cover for 20% cheaper. For this reason they will push and push you for a target premium. This is a catch 22 and one worth discussing because if you don't give them one they will not prioritise your quote. If you DO give them one you will be limiting your potential savings.

                  FAQs

                  Professional liability, professional indemnity and errors & omissions insurance all refer to the same type of professional advice and services cover. The term "errors & omissions" is more common in the US, while "professional indemnity" is more common in the UK.

                  No, public liability insurance covers covers claims from third parties due to accidents (e.g., if a customer slips and falls in your business premises), while professional indemnity covers claims for errors or negligence in the advice or service you provide. Read more about the differences between public liability and professional indemnity here.

                  Professional indemnity is required by regulatory or some professional bodies for certain professions (e.g., healthcare, accountants, architects, engineers, surveyors, solicitors, financial advisors, insurance brokers) and is often recommended for professions that provide paid or unpaid professional advice or services (e.g., designers, construction, advertising, freelance, PR, etc.).

                  Even if you provide your services for free, you can still be found liable for an alleged financial loss so PI insurance could help cover costs even if you're unpaid.

                  No, professional indemnity is not a legal requirement, however, certain professional bodies require PI insurance as a condition of membership (e.g., chartered accountants).

                  Someone use professional indemnity insurance to pay for legal defence costs and possible compensation payments if a client sues them for causing a real or perceived financial loss (e.g., due to negligence or making a mistake).

                  No, employers' liability insurance protects you against claims made by employees who've been accidentally injured or fall ill due to their work for you, while professional indemnity insurance covers you against claims made by clients alleging you've provided negligent advice or services.

                  The cost of professional indemnity insurance starts from around £80 a year in the UK, but can easily cost 10X as much or more for a small business depending on your profession and the amount of cover you need, as well as the size of your contracts. You may get a discount if you're a member of a professional association. It can be one of the more expensive business liability insurance coverages.

                  No, product liability insurance protects you against claims made by customers who've been injured by a product you sold them, while professional indemnity insurance covers you against claims made by clients alleging you've provided negligent advice or services.

                  The amount of professional indemnity insurance you need is dependent on four primary factors: your profession, the size of your projects, minimum limits required by any governing body you belong to and the amount of PI insurance expected by your clients. A broker or insurance company might be able to talk you through the numbers. Keep in mind that there is no limit on compensation claims in the UK, so a serious case cost thousands or even millions of pounds. Consider how much of a financial impact a mistake or oversight on your part could have on your clients—that, plus legal fees, is essentially what you need cover for.

                  Yes, professional indemnity is considered an allowable business expense—read more at Gov.uk.

                  Anyone giving professional advice might need professional indemnity insurance, regardless of whether they work at home or in an office.

                  Professional indemnity insurance is available to cover professionals who give advice, whether you're part of a company or working as self employed. If you give advice then you can get PI insurance. If you're having trouble finding a policy, call a specialist business insurance broker to find out why.

                  Professional indemnity does not cover personal injury (that would be covered by public liability or employers' liability), most penalties & fines, or financial losses from excluded events like terrorism, war or pollution. Some penalties can be covered such as the cost of ombudsman claims before any final deliberation is made, i.e. The cost of processing any regulatory claims or complaints.

                  A sole trader who gives advice might want professional indemnity insurance to help protect against negligence claims.

                  You can get quotes for both public liability and professional indemnity using this quote form. It's powered by our partner, 4.8-star QuoteZone.

                  If an insurance company declines you for professional indemnity insurance, it can feel like the end of the world. Especially if you've left buying cover to the last minute. But it's not always a disaster. Read more in our article on declined insurance to learn what you need to declare to other insurers about being declined and what to do next.

                  Policy Nuances

                  Limit of Indemnity

                  The limit on a professional liability policy can be structured as an 'any one claim' or 'aggregate' basis, or both:

                  • Any one claim basis: Each individual claim has its own limit of indemnity. However, in a situation where there are multiple claims with the same cause, they're treated as a single claim.
                  • Aggregate basis: The limit of indemnity applies to all claims made against you during the period of cover.

                  Confusingly, some policies will state 'Any one claim and in the aggregate' across the top. This is just a confusing way of stating that either the cover basis is listed elsewhere (such as the certificate) OR that the policy is in fact an aggregate policy masquerading as something more. Again, written confirmation is gold plated.

                  Businesses that are members of a professional body (e.g., architects, insurance brokers, accounts, etc.) may have to meet certain minimum PI insurance requirements (more on that below).

                  Claims-Made Cover

                  Professional indemnity insurance is typically sold on a claims-made basis, which means your policy will only cover you for claims made while your insurance policy is still active, not after. This is important because a client might not discover an error you made until years after you worked for them.

                  You need to be insured both at the time of the alleged incident (when you did the work) and also when your client makes a claim against you.

                  If you cancel your policy or let it expire, it won't cover you anymore—even if the incident in question occurred while your policy was active. For example, if you had professional indemnity insurance but you let it expire at the end of 2019, then you're not covered for a claim in 2020 related to advice you gave a client in 2019 (even though when you gave the advice your policy was in force).

                  However you will be covered for any work carried out in the years prior if the claim comes in during the policy period unless insurers place a 'retroactive date' on the policy to limit these claims from prior work. This is crucial for well established businesses as they can think they are getting a much cheaper policy when in fact it excludes perhaps a decade of prior work, any of which may still generate claims!

                  Run-off Coverage

                  Anyone with PI cover who is changing professions or retiring should consider buying a "run-off" professional liability policy. This protects you against new claims that are made after your professional indemnity insurance expires or has been cancelled. According to information from Lexis Nexis, new professional negligence claims can be made up to six years after the damage, so your run-off policy should cover you for at least 6 years.

                  However, while 6 years is a common run off period it's becoming more common for 12 years to be stated on contracts being issued now. This is due to many contracts being issued as deeds which don't have the same statute of limitations on them as your basic 'simple contracts' and it's something anyone getting involved in construction should be made aware of. 'Collateral warranties' are another rabbit hole and something worth writing about for construction professionals.

                  Retroactive Date

                  A retroactive date on a professional indemnity policy is the date from which you have held uninterrupted professional indemnity insurance cover—even if a part of the time the cover was with a different insurer. Many professional indemnity policies will include a 'retroactive' date. The retroactive date will be earlier than the policy start date unless this is a business's first year in operation and with cover.

                  Since professional indemnity insurance is sold on a 'claims-made' basis and you need cover when the damage occurred and when the claim is made, the 'retroactive date' feature allows you to switch insurers without creating a gap in your cover.

                  For example, if you are insured by company X from January 2017 until December 2019, at which point you switch to a new insurer Y, then the retroactive date on your new policy with insurer Y is January 2017. In this example you're covered by your insurer Y for any acts that occurred since January 2017, but not before.

                  If you've had uninterrupted cover then your retroactive date will be earlier than your policy start date.

                  Additional Resources

                  Looking for more information about professional indemnity insurance and other types of business insurance? Check out our articles below.

                  Methodology

                  We use a points-based system where a provider gets a final score based on number of policy features offered x average review (expressed as a percentage), where multiple reviews exist on different platforms we weight by number of reviewers and recombine at the end to get a final percentage, so a bad review from one reviewer on one site doesn't skew the numbers (their review will be worth 1/800th of the review score given by 800 people on another site, for example). Once we have final scores for each occupation, we take that score and table it for a visual expression of insurer features and flexibility, before applying a separate methodology to rank across all insurers tested.

                  We also included a 'no quote' penalty in the final score, for insurers that wouldn't quote for any of the professions/businesses we tested (IT Contracting, Accountant, Management Consultant, Building Surveyor and Hairdresser). That means for every unavailable policy an insurer has, they lose 1/5th of their final score, with the number in this column representing a true combination of all factors we're comparing.

                  Here is a quick recap of the business profile we used in our testing: 5+ years experience, no financial problems, £50,000 turnover, vanilla/low risk activities, no international work, ltd company, one director and one employee (20k wages, no PAYE details), retroactive cover requested, low risk option always chosen.

                  To obtain quotes from each insurer we went directly to their site, but where insurers do not quote directly we made use of online comparison and brokerage sites to produce quotes. Please note that brokered policies can differ from broker to broker, despite being underwritten by the same company, so you should always read through policy wordings and make sure you understand exactly what is being covered when purchasing any insurance policy.

                  Here are the results:

                  NimbleFins Ratings of Professional Indemnity Insurance Companies (Scores out of 5)

                  RankinsurerLimits AvailablePricingExcess LevelsPolicy FeaturesCustomer RatingsRange of ProfessionsFinal score/5
                  1AXA3.43.84.03.84.35.03.8
                  2Hiscox2.84.14.34.33.64.03.0
                  3Chiswell Insurance via Simply Business4.04.13.02.84.44.02.9
                  4DirectLine3.33.84.32.54.54.02.9
                  5Markel3.03.13.53.33.94.02.7
                  6Aviva2.04.24.03.13.33.02.0
                  7Elements Insurance via Simply Business3.03.84.01.74.42.01.3
                  Erin Yurday

                  Erin Yurday is the Founder and Editor of NimbleFins. Prior to NimbleFins, she worked as an investment professional and as the finance expert in Stanford University's Graduate School of Business case writing team. Read more on LinkedIn.

                  Comments

                  The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.