Professional indemnity insurance

What is professional indemnity insurance?

Professional indemnity insurance is an important type of business insurance. If your business advises clients, or helps them navigate complex financial or legal affairs, errors can cost thousands. Professional indemnity (PI for short) can protect you if a client makes a financial loss, because of your work. Trade associations and customers will often require a minimum level of PI insurance – we offer between £50,000 and £5 million, depending on your business type.

Professional indemnity insurance is also known as professional liability insurance. They’re the same cover, designed to protect professionals against PI claims.

• professional indemnity insurance, UK-based claims and customer service team
• get it as a standalone cover or add it to a broader business insurance policy
• quotes start at £4.42* a month based on 2021 data

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What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

It’s important to review an indemnity insurance quote carefully, checking your insurer offers cover for the risks you face. Most PI insurance policies are built to cover legal and compensation costs if a client makes a financial loss because of your work. From mistakes or bad advice and copyright infringement to mishandling of confidential information, small business professional indemnity insurance can cover a range of risks.

• Loss-causing advice

  What does this cover?

  • advice which leads to a client’s financial loss
  • legal fees and professional indemnity cover, up to the level stated on your policy wording

  When would I need to make a claim?

  • for example, you advise your client on the best way to improve their business performance, but after implementing they suffer a financial loss
• Certification errors

  What does this cover?

  • errors in your certification services which lead to a client’s financial loss
  • legal fees and professional indemnity cover, up to the level stated on your policy wording

  When would I need to make a claim?

  • for example, you provide certification in your line of work which contains an error, causing your client to suffer a financial loss
• Negligence

  What does this cover?

  • negligent advice which leads to a client’s financial loss
  • legal fees and professional indemnity cover, up to the level stated on your policy wording

  When would I need to make a claim?

  • for example, you’re submitting a tax return for your client but miss a document, resulting in a fine

Why is professional indemnity important?

If you’re advising clients, or helping them navigate complex financial or legal affairs, simple errors can cost thousands.

Examples of situations when professional indemnity insurance can cover you include:

• if you make a mistake in your work or providing bad advice
• if you use copyright protected content without permission
• if you share confidential or sensitive information without consent
• if you lose a client's documents or data
• if you publish a false statement that damages a person's or company's reputation

Find more information on our professional indemnity insurance FAQ page.

How much does PI insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay and compare professional indemnity insurance prices from a range of trusted insurers.

Example professional indemnity insurance quotes, real prices

Does professional indemnity insurance cover my work?

Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect your business properly. Some examples of trades we cover include:

• Builders insurance
• Catering insurance
• Cleaning insurance
• Contractor insurance
• Hairdressing insurance
• Home baking insurance
• Online retailer insurance
• Pub insurance
• Public liability insurance for security guards
• Restaurant insurance
• Roofing insurance
• Takeaway insurance

Is your profession not listed? When you run a quote you can select your trade from over 1,000 options.

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

Example claim

Having self-employed professional indemnity insurance through Simply Business has saved small business owners thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Professional indemnity insurance FAQs

Whether you’re it’s the first time you want to buy professional indemnity insurance or you’ve been operating your business for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about indemnity insurance. You can also check out our professional indemnity insurance FAQs.

• Do I need professional indemnity insurance?

  Professional indemnity insurance can be an important cover for a range of businesses, from accountants and architects to surveyors and consultants, who must have professional indemnity cover in order to operate legally. It's particularly popular with businesses that provide advice or a professional service because it can cover you if your work leads to a financial loss for your client. Some client contracts will require that you have a certain level of professional indemnity cover.

  Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, the cost of defending yourself against claims for negligence or mistakes that leave your client out of pocket can be very high. You might need professional indemnity insurance if you:

  • provide a service
  • give advice
  • handle sensitive data

  Read more to help you decide whether you need professional indemnity cover.

• Is professional indemnity insurance required by law?

  Professional indemnity insurance isn't a legal requirement. But regulators and professional bodies may require your business to have professional indemnity insurance, so you should check whether it's compulsory. As an example, professions like solicitors, accountants and architects may need it.

  Read more about whether you need to have professional indemnity insurance.

• What should I consider before I buy PI insurance?

  It's important to give accurate information when building your quote to make sure you're getting the right cover for your business. Here are some of the questions you'll be asked when you buy professional indemnity insurance online:

  • are you a sole trader or limited company?
  • does your business deal with members of the public?
  • do you work with clients or customers?
  • do you handle data or intellectual property?

  If you're not sure about the details you need to give, you can always call us on 0333 014 6683 and someone from our UK-based team of experts will help you with your quote.

• How much professional indemnity insurance do I need?

  You'll need to think about the type of projects you work on, and whether your clients, regulator or professional body ask you to have a minimum level of cover. You can usually choose between £50,000 and £5 million of professional indemnity insurance.

  Your clients may tell you the cover amount they need you to have in place. If they don’t, it’s always worth checking before you take on the work.

  If you need to change your cover level, it's important to let us know. Underestimating the cover you need can lead to your claim not being paid.

  When you take out your professional indemnity cover, make sure you check any exclusions on your policy, and whether it includes legal expenses cover. With Simply Business, you can check the details of your policy wording before you buy.

  Read more about deciding your cover level.

• Is professional indemnity insurance for freelancers?

  Freelance professional indemnity insurance is an important cover for copywriters, graphic designers, photographers, and other freelancers.

  It can cover designers if they unknowingly use another business’s intellectual property when creating designs, for example, which leads to a financial loss for their client.

  Professional indemnity insurance can cover other disputes too, paying out to fix mistakes or compensate your client.

• What’s the difference between professional indemnity and public liability insurance?

  Public liability insurance covers compensation claims from the public if someone is injured or loses out financially and blames your business. Professional indemnity insurance covers claims from clients who lose out financially because of a mistake you made or advice you gave.

  Public liability insurance at a glance

  • if your work causes injury or property damage
  • covers compensation payouts and legal costs
  • even covers damage to third party property
  • covers you for past mistakes
  • some clients or trade bodies may require a certain level of public liability cover

  Professional indemnity insurance at a glance

  • if a client decides your work or advice is inadequate
  • covers you in case you need to fix your mistake at your own expense
  • protects you against financial loss while you're defending or settling a claim
  • a key consideration for businesses that provide advice or services
  • you may be able to backdate your policy start date to cover you for previous work

  With us, you can compare professional indemnity and public liability insurance quotes at the same time, including them both in one policy.

  Read more about the difference between professional indemnity and public liability.

• Is professional indemnity insurance tax deductible?

  Businesses can deduct 'allowable expenses' when calculating their taxable profit and business insurance is an allowable expense. This means you can deduct the cost of professional indemnity insurance when calculating your taxable profit. Make sure you keep a record of your income and expenses for HMRC.

  Read more about whether professional indemnity insurance is tax deductible.

• What’s the difference between paying by Direct Debit and paying in one lump sum?

  You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:

  • one-off credit or debit card payment
  • BACS payment
  • Direct Debit

  If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.

• Do I need cover for other types of work?

  Make sure you’re covered for the services you provide:

  • Business insurance
  • Public liability insurance
  • Employers' liability insurance
  • Commercial insurance
  • Product liability insurance
  • Personal accident insurance
  • Business legal protection insurance
  • View all business insurance covers

  Other types of insurance

  • Limited company insurance
  • Self-employed insurance
  • Freelance insurance
  • Consultant insurance
  • Contractors insurance
  • Sole trader insurance

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions