Chartered legal executive (CILEX) professional indemnity insurance — the UK requirement
Chartered legal executives regulated by CILEx Regulation have a specific PI obligation when practising as authorised probate practitioners, litigators, advocates or CILEX-ACCA-Probate members. This reference covers the framework.
The regulatory position
CILEx Regulation is the approved regulator of legal executives in England and Wales under the Legal Services Act 2007. Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (Fellows and Chartered Legal Executives) who hold CILEx Regulation practising rights are regulated for professional purposes by CILEx Regulation, not the SRA.
The CILEx Regulation Handbook sets out the PI insurance requirement. The core position:
- Legal executives practising as employees within SRA-regulated firms are covered by the firm's SRA MTC PI. No separate CILEX policy required.
- Legal executives holding a CILEx-Regulation authorisation to practise on their own account (as a CILEX Practitioner or Chartered Legal Executive Practitioner) must hold CILEx Regulation-compliant PI at a minimum limit of £2,000,000 per claim.
- Where the legal executive practises in a specified reserved legal activity — litigation, advocacy, probate, notarial acts, conveyancing — the CILEx Regulation minimum applies.
CILEX ACCA-Probate practitioners
The CILEX-ACCA-Probate route allows a small number of legal executives to offer probate services as a stand-alone activity. These practitioners must hold £2m PI cover and comply with CILEx Regulation's probate-specific supervisory rules.
Where CILEX PI differs from SRA PI
The minimum limit is the same as SRA MTC (£2m per claim), but the market is materially thinner. Whereas the SRA has a qualifying-insurer list of participating insurers, CILEx Regulation does not — any FCA-authorised UK insurer can write CILEX-compliant PI. In practice, only three or four insurers regularly quote for CILEX practitioners on their own account.
Aggregation wording is not prescribed by CILEx Regulation. Firms should ensure the aggregation clause in their policy matches the SRA MTC standard "matters or transactions that are related" or better, especially where the practitioner does volumes of conveyancing or probate.
Claims patterns
- Conveyancing errors — most common where the practitioner has taken over from SRA-firm conveyancing routes.
- Probate delays and disbursement errors.
- Advocacy errors — smaller quantum but adverse cost consequences.
- Retention and money-laundering-related notifications.
Run-off cover
CILEx Regulation requires compliant run-off cover for at least six years after cessation of practice, aligned with the Limitation Act 1980 primary period. See our limitation-periods reference for the fifteen-year long-stop and s.14A extension implications.
Placement in practice
A specialist broker familiar with the CILEX segment will approach the two or three insurers that quote regularly. Because the underwriting market is narrow, timing matters — leave-it-to-the-last-minute renewals often produce narrow options or Extended-Policy-Period equivalents.
Related Apex references
- Solicitors PI Insurance UK Guide 2026 — sister-profession context
- Limitation periods in professional negligence
- Aggregation clauses by regulator
- Run-off cover explained
CILEX practitioner PI enquiry?
Apex places PI for CILEX-authorised practitioners on their own account, including CILEX-ACCA-Probate members. Directly authorised by the FCA, FRN 724952.
Start a CILEX PI enquiry → Or call 0117 325 0027Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director — Apex Insurance Brokers Limited, FCA FRN 724952. Last reviewed 10 July 2026.
General information about the CILEx Regulation PI requirement. Not advice on any individual practitioner's position. CILEx Regulation is the definitive source of the rulebook. Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952.