PI requirements · IFoA DPB firms · As at September 2026

Actuaries’ PI insurance requirements: the IFoA DPB rule

The IFoA requires PI insurance only from firms it licenses as a Designated Professional Body. Here is exactly who is caught, the minimum sum insured, the excess caps, and how to judge whether it is enough.

Part of: PI insurance requirements by professional body

In short

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries requires professional indemnity insurance only from firms it licenses as a Designated Professional Body (DPB) — those carrying on exempt regulated activities such as insurance distribution. There is no blanket IFoA rule requiring every member or practising-certificate holder to hold PII. For a licensed firm, the DPB Handbook sets a minimum sum insured, per claim and in the aggregate, of the lower of £5 million or £250,000 for each relevant person in the firm. This is the position as at September 2026; verify the current requirement with the IFoA, as the Handbook changes. Apex is an independent, director-owned broker that checks the basis and limit against your licence, and returns competing quotes.

What the IFoA requires

Unlike most bodies on this hub, the IFoA does not require every member or practising-certificate holder to hold professional indemnity insurance. The requirement applies only to firms the IFoA licenses as a Designated Professional Body (DPB) — actuarial firms carrying on exempt regulated activities (such as insurance distribution or investment business) under Part 20 of the Financial Services and Markets Act.

For a licensed firm, the DPB Handbook (para 6.19) sets a minimum total annual sum insured, both per claim and in the aggregate, of not less than the lower of:

£5 million; or
£250,000 for each relevant person in the licensed firm.

In effect the minimum is £250,000 multiplied by the number of relevant persons, capped at £5 million. The Handbook also caps the excess: the maximum aggregate excess is the lower of 15% of the annual sum insured or £37,500 per relevant person (para 6.24), and the per-claim excess the lower of 5% or £12,500 per relevant person (para 6.25). A DPB firm doing insurance-distribution work faces additional minimums aligned with the FCA’s rules; check the current figures with the IFoA, as the Handbook’s euro amounts have not always tracked later FCA uplifts.

Rule and date. IFoA Designated Professional Body (DPB) Handbook — para 6.19 (minimum sum insured: the lower of £5m or £250,000 per relevant person, per claim and in aggregate) and paras 6.24–6.25 (the aggregate and per-claim excess caps). As at September 2026 — verify the current requirement with the IFoA (IFoA DPB licence), as these requirements change.

Each claim vs aggregate: why the basis matters

Two policies can both say ‘£2 million’ and protect you very differently. The difference is the basis of the limit.

Each and every claim (or ‘any one claim’). The full limit is available for every separate claim, however many you face in a policy year. A firm on a £1 million each-and-every policy is covered for three £1 million claims in the same year.
In the aggregate. The limit is the most the insurer will pay in total across the whole year, added together. On a £1 million aggregate policy, those same three claims exhaust the cover after the first.

The IFoA sets its minimum both per claim and in the aggregate, so a licensed firm’s cover must satisfy both, and the £250,000-per-relevant-person calculation scales the figure to the size of the firm, capped at £5 million.

This is why a firm holding £1 million in the aggregate can still fail a requirement written as ‘£1 million for any one claim’ — the number matches but the basis does not. Read the basis of your requirement, not just the figure, and check whether defence costs sit outside the limit or erode it.

Run-off: cover after you stop

Professional indemnity is written on a claims-made basis: the policy that answers a claim is the one in force when the claim is made or notified, not the one you held when you did the work. So when you stop trading, the cover does not follow your old work automatically — a claim can still arrive years later, and there is no live policy to meet it unless you have bought run-off cover.

The DPB Handbook governs a licensed firm’s continuing cover on cessation, but it does not fix a single headline run-off period in the way the SRA or ACCA do. A DPB firm should confirm its run-off obligation directly with the IFoA. Because PI is claims-made, run-off remains the sensible course whatever the stated minimum.

Run-off matters most on retirement, closure, a merger or a change of legal structure. A retroactive date that reaches back over all your past work is what keeps that earlier work covered; if you change insurer or broker, protecting that date is the point to watch.

Is the minimum enough?

A regulatory minimum is a floor, not a recommendation. The IFoA sets the least cover you may hold and still practise; it does not promise the figure is enough for your work. A single claim on a large contract, a valuation, a set of accounts or a piece of advice can run well past the minimum once the loss and the other side’s legal costs are added.

Because the requirement is scope-limited to DPB-licensed firms, most actuaries meet their PI needs through their employer’s cover or a commercial policy sized to the work, not to a regulatory floor. The right limit is the one that matches the advice you give and the clients who rely on it.

Judge the limit against your own exposure: the size of the contracts you sign, the value of the work you touch, what your clients and their lenders require in writing, and your claims history. Our minimum-limit calculator and our guide to how much professional indemnity insurance you need walk through that. A broker’s job is to place the right limit, not just the lowest one you are allowed to buy.

How Apex helps you meet it

Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker established in 2009 and based in Bristol, owned entirely by its directors and directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, placing professional indemnity insurance for actuarial firms across the UK. It is one of the longest-established independently owned professional indemnity specialists in the UK, and it is not for sale: we have declined approaches to buy the firm. We are not tied to any single insurer or professional-body scheme, we do not run our own policy or underwriting, and we have no placement quotas. We have access to over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, and we usually return three or four competing quotes set out so you can compare them like for like. Every client has a named broker — the same person from first quote to renewal — and every claim notification gets director-level attention rather than a call-centre queue.

Owned by its directors, not for sale. No consolidator, no private-equity owner, no external shareholders — and we have declined approaches to buy the firm. Read the Apex Independence Charter.
Independent, not tied. No single-insurer scheme, no in-house policy, no placement quotas — the recommendation is the one that fits, not the one we are paid to push.
Over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s. Specialist UK PI insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, so a risk that one underwriter dislikes can still be placed properly with another.
Usually three or four competing quotes, laid out side by side — limit, excess, retroactive date, exclusions and premium — with a plain-language note on the trade-offs.
The stay-put letter. If your existing cover is right, we say so in writing, free and without obligation. How the stay-put letter works.
A named broker all year. The person who places your cover is the person who picks up the phone at renewal, on a mid-term change, or when a letter of claim lands.
Director-level attention on claims. We help you notify circumstances early and in the right form, stay involved once the insurer’s panel solicitors are appointed, and tell you plainly where you stand.
Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

Frequently asked

Do all actuaries need professional indemnity insurance?

No. The IFoA does not require every member or practising-certificate holder to hold PII. The requirement applies only to firms the IFoA licenses as a Designated Professional Body — those carrying on exempt regulated activities such as insurance distribution or investment business. Most actuaries are covered by an employer’s policy rather than a personal regulatory requirement.

What is the minimum PI cover for an IFoA-licensed firm?

The DPB Handbook sets a minimum sum insured, per claim and in the aggregate, of the lower of £5 million or £250,000 for each relevant person in the firm. In effect that is £250,000 times the number of relevant persons, capped at £5 million. This is the position as at September 2026; confirm it with the IFoA.

What does ‘the lower of’ mean here?

You take £250,000 for each relevant person, then compare that total with £5 million and use whichever is lower. A four-person firm needs £1 million (4 × £250,000); a thirty-person firm would calculate £7.5 million but is capped at the £5 million figure. So £5 million is the ceiling on the minimum, not a flat requirement.

Is the IFoA cover per claim or in aggregate?

Both. The DPB Handbook sets the minimum sum insured per claim and in the aggregate, so a licensed firm’s policy must satisfy each test. The Handbook also caps the excess — the aggregate excess at the lower of 15% of the sum insured or £37,500 per relevant person, and the per-claim excess at the lower of 5% or £12,500 per relevant person.

Do IFoA-licensed firms need run-off cover?

The DPB Handbook governs continuing cover on cessation, but it does not set a single headline run-off period the way the legal and accountancy bodies do. Confirm your run-off obligation with the IFoA. Professional indemnity is claims-made, so arranging run-off remains sensible whatever the stated minimum, to answer claims about past work.

Is the IFoA minimum enough?

It is a floor for licensed firms, not a measure of exposure. Actuarial advice can carry large financial consequences, so a firm should size cover to the work it does and the clients who rely on it, not just to the £250,000-per-person calculation. Our calculator and how-much guide help you judge the right limit.

Check your cover meets the minimum

Send your current schedule and renewal terms. A named Apex broker checks the limit, basis and run-off against your body’s requirement and returns competing quotes set out so you can compare them like for like. Or call 0117 325 0027.

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about professional indemnity insurance requirements, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not set, guarantee or replace the rules of any professional body or regulator. Every requirement shown is the position as at September 2026 against the source linked beside it; these requirements change, so confirm the current rule with the body itself before you rely on it. Apex does not set or enforce any professional body’s minimum.