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Contract requirements · Professional indemnity · Checked 7 September 2026
When a client or contract asks for professional indemnity insurance at a stated limit, the amount is only half the ask. The basis of that limit — each claim or in the aggregate — and the retroactive date decide whether your cover actually satisfies it.
Part of: A client or contract requires insurance
In short
A professional indemnity requirement names a limit of indemnity, commonly £1m, £2m, £5m or £10m — though the figure is whatever the client sets, not a rule. The detail that catches firms out is the basis: ‘each and every claim’ gives the full limit to every claim, while ‘in the aggregate’ shares one pot across the year, so £1m aggregate does not meet a £1m each-and-every-claim clause. Professional indemnity is also claims-made, so the retroactive date must reach back over the work in question. A broker can check both, place cover on the right basis and issue a certificate quickly.
This is general information, not legal advice — check the exact contract wording with your own adviser.
A professional indemnity (PI) clause asks you to carry cover for claims that you were negligent, made a mistake, or gave advice or a design that caused a client a financial loss. It names a limit of indemnity — the most the policy will pay — and usually the basis of that limit and how long to keep it in force.
Levels of £1m, £2m, £5m and £10m each and every claim are commonly seen in consultant appointments and service agreements, scaled to the value and risk of the work. Those are commonly-seen figures, not a legal standard, and the client chooses the number. Where a professional body sets a floor it is concrete: the Architects Registration Board, for example, expects a minimum indemnity of £250,000 acquired ‘on an each and every claim basis’, while noting the appropriate level ‘will vary widely’ with the work (ARB PII guidance).
The single most common misunderstanding is the basis of a professional indemnity or liability limit. ‘Each and every claim’ (sometimes written ‘any one claim’) means the full limit is available to each separate claim in the policy year. ‘In the aggregate’ means the limit is the total for all claims that year combined, so several claims erode one shared pot (Kingsbridge).
That difference can put a firm in breach without it realising. A practice holding £1m in the aggregate does not satisfy a contract that asks for £1m each and every claim, because the bases are not the same: on an aggregate policy, three £300,000 claims in one year would leave only £100,000 for anything else, whereas each-and-every-claim cover would meet each of them in full (Kingsbridge). When a clause states a basis, match it exactly; where it is silent, ask before you rely on your existing limit.
Professional indemnity responds on a claims-made basis: the policy that pays is the one in force when the claim is made, not when you did the work (Designing Buildings). Two consequences follow for a contract requirement.
Meeting a professional indemnity requirement is usually a matter of matching your cover to the clause and proving it:
If a contract has set you a deadline, the fastest route to compliant cover and a certificate is an independent broker who can test the market, place the cover on the right basis and issue the certificate your client needs.
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 professional firms that give advice, design or a specialist service 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.
No. The two are different bases. ‘Each and every claim’ makes the full £1m available to every claim in the year; ‘in the aggregate’ shares one £1m across all claims. A contract asking for £1m each and every claim is not satisfied by a £1m aggregate policy, so match the basis the clause states, not just the number.
There is no legal figure. Levels of £1m, £2m, £5m and £10m each and every claim are commonly seen, scaled to the value and risk of the work, but they are commonly-seen figures and the client sets the number. Some professional bodies fix a floor — the ARB, for instance, expects at least £250,000 on an each-and-every-claim basis for architects.
Professional indemnity is claims-made, so it only covers claims about work done after the policy’s retroactive date. If a client wants cover for a project you have already worked on, your policy must be live and its retroactive date must pre-date that work. A gap in the retroactive date is a common reason a firm technically fails a requirement it thought it met.
If you agreed the clause, yes. It reflects that claims are made late and that the Limitation Act 1980 lets breach-of-contract claims be brought for six years, or twelve for a deed. It is a continuing obligation: you keep renewing the cover, and if you close the business you take out run-off cover so past work stays protected for the rest of the period.
Usually yes, though it needs a short fact-find first, because the insurer prices your fee income, the work you do and your claims history rather than issuing an off-the-shelf figure. Once cover is agreed and in place, a broker issues the certificate for your client. If a contract has set a deadline, tell the broker the date so it can be worked to.
Not generally. For most businesses it is not compulsory by law; the requirement comes from your client or contract, or from a professional body that mandates it for its members, such as solicitors, accountants or architects. Where it is a contractual ask, the client sets the limit and basis, and satisfying it is a matter of matching your cover and proving it.
Because cover is claims-made, a new policy can sometimes pick up past work if its retroactive date reaches back far enough and you have no known claims or circumstances. Anything you already know about must be notified to your current or previous insurer first. A broker can tell you whether a retroactive date covering the work is achievable before you commit.
Send us the clause or the certificate request. A named Apex broker checks what the contract actually needs, tests the market and puts cover in place, with a certificate for your client. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Get a quote Start a commercial quoteApex 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 legal advice, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms. Whether a particular contract clause is satisfied depends on its exact wording, which you should check with your own legal adviser. Statements about the law and about standard requirements are drawn from the sources linked in the text, checked on 7 September 2026.
