Apex Reference

Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director, Apex Insurance Brokers Limited (FCA FRN 724952) · Last reviewed 15 July 2026

When you compare professional indemnity insurance quotes in the UK, the headline premium is only one part of the picture, and often not the most important part. PI wordings vary widely, and two policies that look similar on the quote schedule can behave very differently on the day a claim is notified. This page sets out a structured way to compare quotes so you can see, on a like-for-like basis, what you are actually being offered.

Start with the exposure you actually need to cover

Before you can compare quotes fairly, you need to know what you are asking each insurer to price. That means a settled view on:

• The limit of indemnity you require, above any regulatory floor. Solicitors have the SRA MTC at £2m (£3m for incorporated practices), RICS surveyors work to turnover-linked minimums, ARB architects sit under Standard 8, and financial advisers work to the FCA prescribed minimums. Your commercial choice is what you carry above those floors.
• Whether cover is written per claim or in the aggregate, and how that interacts with the profile of matters you can realistically foresee.
• The excess you can absorb without the firm feeling it. Insurers will often quote at multiple excess levels; comparing at a single, agreed excess is essential.
• The retroactive date — the date from which the policy will pick up prior acts — and whether it will remain unchanged from your incumbent policy.

If quotes are being priced against different assumptions on any of these, you are comparing different products.

Read the schedule side by side

A comparison table is the discipline that reveals differences most quickly. For each quote, capture:

• Insurer name, and whether the insurer is UK-authorised or writing on a freedom-of-services basis.
• Wording name and version. Different wordings from the same insurer can have materially different clauses.
• Limit and basis (per claim, aggregate, or both). Note any inner limits for specific perils such as fraud or cyber-related loss.
• Excess and how it applies — each claim, each claimant, or aggregate.
• Retroactive date.
• Any territory or jurisdiction restriction.
• Premium and taxes shown separately.
• Instalment options and any credit charges attached.

The last two rows matter for cashflow but should never lead the comparison; the earlier ones define what the policy will actually do.

Compare the wording, not just the schedule

PI wordings differ on the clauses that decide claims outcomes. The clauses worth reading carefully:

Definition of professional business. This is the perimeter of cover. A definition that is too narrow can exclude adjacent activities the firm regularly performs; a definition that is too broad can create disputes with the insurer about whether a specific matter falls in or out. Check that your actual work — not a generic professional-services phrase — is captured.

Aggregation clause. This decides how multiple claims arising from a single cause are treated. Some wordings aggregate strictly to a single act; others require related acts or a single originating cause. The wording chosen can turn ten small claims into one aggregated matter or ten separate ones.

Innocent non-disclosure and non-avoidance. Does the wording protect innocent partners or directors if a colleague fails to disclose a material fact? This clause is not standard across the market and its absence can be significant.

Notification requirements. When must a circumstance be notified — as soon as reasonably practicable, immediately, or in accordance with a defined trigger? What form does it take? Wordings that require a signed notification or specific detail can catch a firm out at renewal.

Defence costs. Are defence costs inside the limit, in addition to it, or paid on a co-insurance basis with the excess? On a claim that goes to trial, the defence-costs treatment can swing the practical value of the policy by six or seven figures.

Aggregation with related insureds. Where cover is shared with predecessors, group companies or successor practices, the aggregation position between them matters more than the headline limit.

Exclusions. Standard exclusions vary. Read them — especially anything on directors' and officers' liability, insolvency, pollution, cyber, contractual liability assumed, and work in higher-risk jurisdictions.

Test the covered service, not just the piece of paper

The response you get when you notify a claim depends on how the insurer handles matters and the panel firms they instruct. A cheaper quote from an insurer with a slow claims team or an unfamiliar panel can cost you materially more than a slightly higher premium with an insurer whose claims handling you trust.

Ask, for each insurer under consideration:

• Where is claims handled — UK, EU, or offshore — and by named handlers or a rotating team?
• Which defence panel firms do they instruct for your sector?
• How do they handle circumstance notifications versus formal claims? A responsive circumstance process can head off many claims before they become claims.
• How do they treat innocent partners in a fraud allegation? How is dishonesty proven for exclusion purposes?

Understand the insurer's security

All UK-authorised PI insurers are supervised by the FCA and PRA, but the security they offer differs by rating, ownership and reinsurance structure. Financial-strength ratings from Standard & Poor's, Moody's or A.M. Best are the most widely used external benchmark. For solicitors and other regulated professions, the regulator publishes lists of qualifying or participating insurers; a quote from an unrated or unlisted insurer requires more care.

Watch for what is not on the quote

A quote that leaves out an important cover you currently carry — for example loss of documents, or a specific territorial extension — can look cheaper simply because it is offering less. A structured comparison should force each insurer to confirm inclusion or exclusion of each material coverage element, so the like-for-like nature of the comparison is real, not just apparent.

Involve the broker in the comparison

A well-run broker comparison starts with a single risk narrative that goes to every market approached, and ends with a report that shows the differences the underwriter is offering against a common baseline. That report should read as a document you can hand to a partner, a compliance function or an audit committee.

How Apex approaches this

Apex Insurance Brokers is a professions-focused PI broker. When we run a comparison, we place each submission with insurers whose appetite fits your work, present the results in a structured schedule that lines up wording differences alongside premium, and give you a considered view rather than a list. A named broker handles your file from first enquiry through renewal, and 95% of our clients stay with us year on year.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952.

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570.