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Marketing and creative
Yes. If your agency writes, designs, approves or places advertising for clients, you need professional indemnity insurance, and most client contracts ask for it before work starts. Public liability covers injury and damage to property. It does not respond when a client says your campaign broke the CAP Code and had to be pulled, used an image outside its licence, defamed a competitor or missed its launch date. Those are PI claims, and the IP and defamation side needs to be written into the policy.
Part of: Professional indemnity for marketing consultants
In short
Advertising agencies are exposed from two sides: clients who lose production and media spend when a campaign is withdrawn or goes out wrong, and third parties who say an ad infringed their copyright or trade mark or harmed their reputation. The CAP Code puts primary responsibility on the advertiser, but rule 1.8 says agencies also accept an obligation to abide by it. The ASA does not fine; when it upholds a complaint the ad must be changed or withdrawn, and the client often looks to its agency for the cost. Since 6 April 2025 the CMA can fine traders up to 10% of worldwide turnover for unfair commercial practices.
Last reviewed 5 October 2026 by the Apex professional indemnity team.
Public liability (PL) insurance pays when someone is injured or their property is damaged because of your business, such as a passer-by tripping over lighting cable at a location shoot. It is worth having, but it is not where an agency’s serious claims come from.
Agency claims are about money lost because of the work itself. A headline, a product claim, an edit, a choice of image or a launch schedule can cost a client heavily without anyone being hurt or anything being broken. When the client says you were negligent, or a rival brand says your ad infringed its rights or damaged its reputation, PL has nothing to offer. Professional indemnity (PI) insurance usually covers your legal liability for that kind of loss, plus the cost of defending the allegation.
For an agency the wording matters as much as the limit. Check that the policy:
Where PI stops and media liability starts is set out in PI vs media liability for marketing businesses.
The scenarios below are illustrative. They show the kinds of allegation an advertising agency can face; they are not real claims, clients or outcomes.
Each one turns on what a competent agency should have checked or asked for, which is the question PI is built to answer.
When a campaign goes wrong, the dispute starts with the rule it is said to have broken. These come up most often for agencies.
| Rule or source | What it says | Why it matters to your PI |
|---|---|---|
| CAP Code, rule 1.8 | Primary responsibility for observing the Code falls on marketers. Agencies, publishers and other service suppliers “also accept an obligation to abide by the Code”. | Compliance is not only the client’s problem, and a client will say it relied on your expertise. |
| CAP Code, rule 3.7 and section 11 | Before an ad is published, marketers must hold documentary evidence for claims consumers are likely to regard as objective. Absolute environmental claims need a high level of substantiation. | Unsubstantiated claims, green claims especially, are a common reason ads are withdrawn. Ask for the evidence before the line goes in. |
| CAP Code, rules 2.1 and 2.3 | Marketing must be obviously identifiable as such and must make its commercial intent clear. | Influencer, advertorial and native content is judged against these rules. |
| CAP Code, rules 3.33 to 3.43 | Comparisons with an identifiable competitor must compare like with like, objectively, and must not denigrate a rival or take unfair advantage of its trade mark. | Comparative ads bring claims from competitors, not just regulators. |
| Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 | Since 6 April 2025 the CMA and the courts can fine traders up to 10% of worldwide turnover for unfair commercial practices. “Trader” includes a person acting in the name of, or on behalf of, a business. | Clients face larger penalties and will ask who wrote the material. |
| Defamation Act 2013, s.1 (England and Wales) | A statement is not defamatory unless it has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to reputation. For a body trading for profit, that means serious financial loss. | Knocking copy can draw defamation allegations from a competitor that can show lost business. |
| Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.16 | Copyright is infringed by anyone who, without a licence, does a restricted act or authorises another to do it, in relation to the whole work or a substantial part of it. | An agency that selects, adapts or supplies third-party material can be pursued alongside the brand. |
| ISBA/IPA Creative Services Framework Agreement (2025) | An industry contract template for advertisers and creative agencies. The 2025 version adds clauses on generative AI. | Many relationships run on this template or a client’s variant of it. Check its liability and indemnity terms against your policy. |
TV and radio ads sit under the separate BCAP Code, and broadcasters must enforce ASA rulings as a condition of their Ofcom licences.
| Usually covered by PI | Often excluded or limited | Needs a different policy |
|---|---|---|
| Client claims that negligent creative, copy or advice led to a withdrawn or failed campaign | Fines and penalties imposed by the CMA, a court or another regulator | Injury or property damage at a shoot or event (public liability) |
| Third-party claims for copyright or trade mark infringement, where IP cover is included | Patent infringement, and infringement you knew about or intended | Injury to your own staff (employers’ liability) |
| Defamation and malicious falsehood claims over campaign content, where included | Promises beyond reasonable skill and care, such as a guaranteed sales uplift or an uncapped indemnity | A hack of your systems or loss of client data (cyber) |
| Breach of confidence, such as leaking a client’s launch plans | Claims or complaints you knew about before the policy started | A client failing to pay for media you bought on its behalf (trade credit) |
| Defence costs, including legal and expert fees | Refunding your own fees, or redoing work where no one else has suffered a loss | Theft of client money by an employee (crime or fidelity cover) |
Cover is always subject to the policy terms and the insurer’s acceptance. If you have added influencer programmes or media buying since your last proposal form, tell the insurer now.
An ASA ruling does not come with a fine. If the rules have been broken, the ad must be changed or withdrawn, and the ruling is published and made available to the media. The money is lost elsewhere, which is why upheld complaints so often turn into disputes between brand and agency.
It is usually a mix of unusable production, booked media with no compliant copy to fill it, re-shoots and legal fees. If the client believes the agency proposed the problem claim, missed a gap in the evidence or ignored a warning, it will try to recover that loss from you. Your contract decides what you promised. Your PI policy decides whether a claim that you broke that promise is insured.
No regulator sets a minimum PI limit for agencies, so the figure comes from your clients. Large advertisers, public bodies and procurement frameworks write a PI requirement into the contract or tender, sometimes with a separate requirement for IP and defamation.
PI is claims-made: the policy that pays is the one in force when the claim is first made, not the one in force when the campaign ran. Copyright claims in particular can surface years later, when a rights holder finds an old image still live on a client’s website. If your agency is sold, merged into a group or closed, arrange run-off cover so past campaigns stay insured. See run-off cover explained.
A complete proposal gets better terms than a bare one, and a broker can only present what you tell us. Have these ready:
Speak to a broker
PI for advertising agencies, placed by a named broker
Start the online proposal and save it as you go, or leave your number and a named broker will call you back, usually the same working day.
Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker based in Bristol, established in 2009 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are not tied to one insurer: we work with over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates through wholesale brokers, and every client has a named broker who handles the placement, mid-term changes, certificates for clients and the renewal.
Yes, in almost every case. Clients rely on your creative, claims and advice, and a withdrawn campaign can cost them production and media spend. PI usually covers your liability for that loss and your defence costs. Make sure it includes intellectual property and defamation too, because rights holders and competitors can claim against you directly.
No. No law requires an advertising agency to hold PI, and the ASA and CAP run a self-regulatory system that does not ask for it. In practice it is expected: brand owners, public bodies and procurement frameworks usually require PI in the contract or tender, often with a minimum limit and an obligation to keep cover after the work ends.
The ruling is not a claim against you, and the ASA does not fine. If your client then alleges you caused its loss, for example by proposing an unsubstantiated claim, PI usually responds to that allegation and your defence costs, subject to the policy terms. Tell your insurer when the complaint is made, not when the client’s letter arrives.
Yes. Under the CAP Code the advertiser has primary responsibility, but rule 1.8 says agencies also accept an obligation to abide by it. A client that relied on your expertise may argue you should have spotted and flagged the risk. Its sign-off helps your defence but does not stop the allegation, which is why defence cost cover matters.
Often, if the policy includes intellectual property infringement. These claims usually arise when material is used outside its licence: a different medium, a longer period or another territory. Policies commonly exclude infringement you knew about or intended, so keep licence records and usage end dates for every asset you buy or commission.
Not usually. PI policies commonly exclude fines and penalties. What PI can do, subject to its terms, is defend you if a client that has been fined claims that your negligent work caused the breach. Since 6 April 2025 the CMA can fine traders up to 10% of worldwide turnover.
Apex arranges professional indemnity insurance for advertising agencies across the UK. Tell us about your work and we’ll find cover that fits. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start your PI proposal Call 0117 325 0027Apex 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, not advice on your individual circumstances. Cover is always subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms, and this page does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
