D&O quote · UK limited companies · Updated September 2026

Directors and officers insurance quote

Who buys D&O, what an underwriter needs to quote it, how to choose a limit, and what the online from-prices are actually based on.

Part of: Commercial insurance at Apex

In short

A directors and officers (D&O) insurance quote covers the people who run a company against claims about how they ran it. Any limited company with directors can buy it; it is most often bought by companies with outside investors, regulated firms, companies under financial strain, and charities and trustees. To quote, an underwriter needs your last filed accounts, turnover, ownership and any external investors, subsidiaries and any US or Canadian exposure, recent or planned fundraises or restructures, employee numbers, and claims or investigations in the last five years. Apex Insurance Brokers, an independent Bristol broker owned by its directors, established in 2009 and directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, arranges standalone D&O and packaged management liability with a named broker and access to over 30 markets.

Who buys D&O

Directors owe the company the general duties in sections 171 to 177 of the Companies Act 2006, and a breach is a personal liability: damages come from the director’s own assets unless a policy responds.

Any limited company with directors. Claims come from liquidators, HMRC, the HSE, employees, customers and fellow shareholders.
Investor-backed companies. Venture and private-equity investors commonly require D&O as a condition of investment, with the limit written into the shareholders’ agreement. See D&O when raising investment.
Regulated firms. FCA-authorised businesses, whose senior managers carry personal accountability under the Senior Managers and Certification Regime.
Companies under financial strain. Wrongful-trading claims under section 214 of the Insolvency Act 1986 are brought against directors personally. See D&O and insolvency.
Charities, academy trusts, clubs and their trustees. The equivalent product is trustee indemnity; see charity trustee indemnity insurance.

What a D&O quote needs

D&O underwriting is mostly about financial health, because claims against directors cluster where companies are under strain. These are the questions on our own D&O proposal.

The company. Legal name and company number (we use it to pull your filed accounts), what it does, whether any shares or debt are publicly traded (a listed company needs a different proposal), and whether it is FCA-regulated.
Structure and reach. Subsidiaries, and any operations, assets or employees outside the UK — especially any USA or Canada exposure, which insurers rate separately.
Financial position. Turnover for the last complete year, and whether the latest accounts show a profit, positive net assets and no audit qualification. If any part is a no, a candid explanation usually still gets quoted.
Ownership and change. Any external investor holding roughly 15% or more; any acquisition, disposal, fundraise, restructure or change of control in the last 12 months or planned in the next 18.
People. Employee numbers, whether you want employment practices liability included, any redundancies or tribunal claims.
History. Claims, investigations or regulatory enquiries in the last five years; any director disqualification, bankruptcy or previous insolvency; previous D&O cover or declines.
Cover. The limit you want and when cover needs to start.

The Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation applies: a disclosed issue is a talking point, an undisclosed one is a coverage problem.

Choosing a limit

The limit is usually an aggregate for all insured people for the policy year, so it is shared. The drivers:

Size and turnover. The scale of the decisions being made and the losses a claimant could allege.
Investors. What the shareholders’ agreement or term sheet requires.
Regulated status and sector. Regulatory investigations are expensive to defend even when nothing is found.
How many directors share the limit, and whether defence costs erode it.
US or Canadian exposure. Higher defence costs and a more litigious environment.

Our online D&O proposal offers £250,000, £500,000, £1m, £2m, £3m and £5m, or a figure of your own, and labels £1m as the most common choice and £2m as usual for investor-backed firms. If you are unsure, pick the nearest and we advise. Get Indemnity, a UK broker, publishes that a £2 million limit “will usually be a +60–75% increase on the premium charged for a £1 million limit” (getindemnity.co.uk, undated, checked 6 September 2026).

From £5 a month? What the online prices are based on

The from-prices are real and, for the company each describes, may be the right buy. Read the basis first.

Markel Direct advertises D&O “from £5 a month”, “based on a business consultant requiring £25,000 of directors’ and officers’ insurance” — a £25,000 limit (markeluk.com, checked 6 September 2026).
PolicyBee advertises D&O “from £14.67 a month for £250,000 cover”, “based on a quote for an IT Consultancy with an annual income of up to £80,000. All prices include IPT at 12%”, and quotes online for turnovers up to £10,000,000 (policybee.co.uk, checked 6 September 2026).
Superscript carries “Quotes from £7.94/MTH” in its page title; no basis for the figure is stated on the page (gosuperscript.com, checked 6 September 2026).
Insurance Revolution, a UK broker, wrote on 4 August 2025 that “many UK policies start from around £250 per year for small firms”, putting small low-risk businesses at “between £250 and £500 per year” (insurancerevolution.co.uk).
Get Indemnity, a UK broker, states that premiums “can start from £345 per annum for a £1 million limit for a small private company” (getindemnity.co.uk).

Direct is usually fine when the company is owner-managed with no outside investors, the accounts show a profit and positive net assets, nothing is regulated, there is no overseas exposure, no claims, and a modest limit will do. A broker earns their place when there are investors or a funding round, losses or negative net assets, FCA regulation, US exposure, a previous insolvency, claims or an investigation, or you want employment practices or crime cover in the same package. Insurance Premium Tax is charged at 12% on general insurance premiums; when you compare figures from different sources, check whether each is shown before or after IPT. More on what moves the premium is on what directors and officers insurance costs in the UK.

How Apex arranges D&O

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, and directors’ and officers’ cover alongside it, 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.

A short proposal, then a written presentation to the insurers that write your size and sector — not a single panel. Most people finish the online form in under ten minutes and can save and come back.
Standalone D&O or management liability. We come back with both where both make sense: a packaged policy adds employment practices liability and crime cover, which for a company with staff are often the sections that get used.
Options side by side. Limit, excess, the insured persons, defence-cost treatment, exclusions and premium — then the same named broker for a funding round, a new subsidiary or a letter from a liquidator.

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.
Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

Frequently asked

How much does directors and officers insurance cost?

It depends on turnover, financial health, ownership, sector, regulation, overseas exposure, claims history and the limit. Published starting points: Markel Direct from £5 a month for a £25,000 limit; PolicyBee from £14.67 a month for £250,000 on an IT consultancy earning up to £80,000; Get Indemnity from £345 a year for £1m for a small private company. Each is that provider’s own figure, not a typical premium.

Is D&O insurance necessary for a small limited company?

There is no statutory requirement. The case for it is that directors’ duties under the Companies Act 2006 are personal, so a claim from a liquidator, HMRC, the HSE, an employee or a shareholder is defended with the director’s own money unless a policy responds. For a company with investors it is usually a contractual requirement.

What is the difference between D&O and management liability insurance?

D&O covers the directors and officers personally, and the company where it indemnifies them. Management liability is a package that adds employment practices liability (tribunal claims against the company and its managers) and usually crime cover. For a company with staff, the employment section is often the one that gets used.

Do I need D&O if I am the only director and shareholder?

You cannot sue yourself, but that is not where the claims come from. A liquidator can pursue a sole director for wrongful trading, the HSE for a safety failure, an employee for an employment breach, a customer for misrepresentation. Each is brought against you personally.

Can I get D&O if the company made a loss last year?

Yes, in most cases. Insurers ask whether the latest accounts show a profit, positive net assets and no audit qualification because claims against directors cluster where companies are under strain. A loss with a clear explanation usually still gets quoted, sometimes with an insolvency exclusion or a higher excess.

Do investors require D&O insurance?

Commonly, yes. Venture and private-equity investors, and the non-executive directors they appoint, usually make D&O a condition of investment, and the shareholders’ agreement often states the limit. Arrange it before completion: a policy in place at signing is what the investor’s lawyers ask to see.

Is D&O claims-made, and what happens when I leave or sell the company?

Yes. Like professional indemnity, D&O is claims-made: the policy in force when the claim is made responds, not the one in force when the decision was taken. Wordings cover past and present directors, and on a sale, closure or retirement an extended reporting period (run-off) can be bought so later claims are still covered.

Does D&O cover charities and trustees?

The equivalent product for a charity, a community group or an academy trust is trustee indemnity insurance, which protects trustees personally for breaches of duty in the way D&O protects company directors. Charity trustees should check the Charity Commission’s guidance on paying for it from charity funds.

Get a directors and officers quote

Pick “Something else” on the quote page and tell us it is D&O, or leave a name and number and a named broker calls you. 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, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms. Third-party prices quoted are those providers’ own advertised figures on the dates stated, shown with the basis each provider publishes; they are not quotes and not typical premiums.