Insurance for Professional Services

Why Professional Services Need Specialist Cover

Professional services risk centres on advice and judgement, not tools or premises — which means the shape of the cover, not just the limit, is what matters most.

• Professional indemnity is written on a "claims-made" basis, not "occurrence" — the policy in place when a claim is made is what responds, not the one you held when the work was actually done, which is why continuous, unbroken cover matters
• A retroactive date on your policy determines how far back you're covered for past work — losing this by switching insurer or letting cover lapse can leave years of past advice unprotected
• If you close, retire or sell your practice, claims can still emerge years later — run-off cover keeps you protected for advice or work given before you stopped trading
• Most professional bodies set their own minimum indemnity requirements — for example ICAEW and ACCA for accountants, the SRA's Minimum Terms and Conditions for solicitors, ARB for architects, and FCA MIPRU rules for financial advisers and mortgage brokers — and your cover needs to meet or exceed these, not just a generic limit
• A dispute over advice, a missed deadline or an alleged error doesn't need to result in proven negligence to trigger legal costs — many claims are successfully defended, but defence costs alone can run into tens of thousands
• Combined professional indemnity and public liability policies suit firms that see clients on their own premises, since public liability doesn't cover claims arising from the advice or professional service itself

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about professional indemnity and liability insurance for UK professional services firms.