Switching PI · Updated 6 September 2026

Outgrown Hiscox for professional indemnity? What an independent broker does differently

Hiscox sells professional indemnity online in about five minutes with cover up to £10 million, and for many small firms that is exactly right; this page is for firms whose contract, regulator, claims history or growth now needs more than an online journey is built to give.

Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex

In short

Hiscox is a UK insurer that sells professional indemnity direct (“Online quote in 5 minutes”, “Cover up to £10 million”, “from just £8.00 per month” on its stated basis) and also writes PI through brokers. It suits consultants, IT contractors, designers and small firms with straightforward risks. Firms typically look elsewhere when a contract demands a limit or wording the online product does not offer, a regulator requires a specific insurer or wording, there has been a claim, circumstance or CCJ, the firm does several different activities, the premium has risen sharply, or they want a named person handling the account. Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent, director-owned PI specialist with access to over 30 markets, including Hiscox and Lloyd’s syndicates, and usually returns three or four competing quotes set out side by side.

What Hiscox offers, from its own website

From Hiscox’s professional indemnity page, cost FAQ and broker page, checked on 6 September 2026:

“Online quote in 5 minutes” and “Cover up to £10 million”: “Hiscox offers professional indemnity insurance up to £10 million for claims against you”.
PI “can start from just £8.00 per month”, based on “an average of all professional indemnity policies sold to at least 10% of our customer base between April 2025 and April 2026”. Insurance Premium Tax at 12% applies to UK premiums; the footnote does not say whether the figure includes it.
Its cost FAQ: “there is no average professional indemnity cost”; price depends on level of cover, employees, turnover and industry risk, and its PI page adds “whether you’ve made insurance claims before”; the one worked example is “cover for £250,000 could cost £400, while cover for £1,000,000 could cost £600”.
Professions named: consultants, web designers, software developers, IT contractors, app developers, advertising agencies, digital marketers; “Some professional bodies require this cover as a condition of membership. This is often the case for: Accountants, Architects, Surveyors”. Exclusions include work before the retroactive date and anything you knew about before taking out the policy.
Hiscox also distributes through brokers: its broker page lists professional indemnity among the covers offered for “small, medium or large businesses”. It appears on ICAEW’s 2025–26 participating insurers list as contactable “directly or via broker”, and on the RICS list of listed insurers.
Phone 0800 280 0351, Mon–Fri 9am–6pm.

Who it suits well: consultancies, technology and creative businesses with a clean history that want one established insurer’s wording, a limit up to £10 million and a purchase they can complete in an evening.

When firms typically look beyond Hiscox

None of these means Hiscox has done anything wrong. They are the points at which a firm’s needs move past what an online journey is built for.

A contract demands more than the online product offers. Hiscox states cover up to £10 million online; a framework or lender asking for more, for an unusual indemnity clause, a named additional insured or a specific jurisdiction usually needs an underwriter rather than a form.
A regulator requires a particular insurer or wording. Hiscox is on the ICAEW and RICS lists, but SRA-regulated firms need a participating insurer on the SRA minimum terms, and most participating insurers are broker-only; financial advisers need FCA MIPRU or IPRU-INV figures. Check the online wording against your regulator’s minimum.
A claim, a notified circumstance or a CCJ. Hiscox’s own PI page says price depends partly on “whether you’ve made insurance claims before”. Once there is a history, you want several insurers’ views on it, presented properly.
Several activities under one roof. An IT consultancy that resells hardware, an architect who does project management: the online occupation list may not describe you, and a policy for the wrong occupation is a policy with an argument in it.
A sharp premium rise, or no re-market for years. If nobody has taken your risk to other insurers since you first bought online, you do not know what it is worth.
You want a named person. Hiscox publishes a phone line and hours. Some firms want the same individual from quote to renewal to claim.

What changes with an independent specialist

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 consultancies, technology firms, designers and other professional firms 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.

What that means in practice:

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.
Independent, not tied. No single-insurer scheme, no in-house policy, no placement quotas — the recommendation is the one that fits, not the one we are paid to push.
Over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s. Specialist UK PI insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, so a risk that one underwriter dislikes can still be placed properly with another.
Usually three or four competing quotes, laid out side by side — limit, excess, retroactive date, exclusions and premium — with a plain-language note on the trade-offs.
The stay-put letter. If your existing cover is right, we say so in writing, free and without obligation. How the stay-put letter works.
A named broker all year. The person who places your cover is the person who picks up the phone at renewal, on a mid-term change, or when a letter of claim lands.
Director-level attention on claims. We help you notify circumstances early and in the right form, stay involved once the insurer’s panel solicitors are appointed, and tell you plainly where you stand.
Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

How a placement runs:

A short fact-find, not a 40-question form. We ask about your work as a professional firm: what you do, who for, fee income, staff, contracts, claims and anything unusual.
A written presentation to insurers. Under the Insurance Act 2015 you have a duty of fair presentation. We help you meet it — and a well-presented risk gets better terms than a bare proposal form.
Quotes set out to compare. Usually three or four, with limits, excesses, retroactive dates, exclusions and premium side by side, and our recommendation in plain English.
No gap in cover. If you are moving from another broker, insurer or scheme, we put the new policy in place before the old one lapses and check the retroactive date protects your past work.
The same person afterwards. Mid-term changes, contract queries, certificates for clients, circumstance notifications and next year’s renewal all go through your named broker.

How to move without a gap in cover

Professional indemnity is claims-made: the policy in force on the day a claim is made responds, and only for work done after its retroactive date. Moving insurer is safe if these things happen in order.

Notify known circumstances first. Anything you already know about that could lead to a claim belongs with the outgoing insurer; a new policy will exclude it (Hiscox’s PI page, for one, excludes “Anything you knew, or should reasonably have known, before taking out your policy that would likely lead to a claim or a loss”).
Carry the retroactive date across. The new schedule must show a retroactive date no later than the one you hold now, ideally the date you first held continuous cover; otherwise work done in between is uninsured.
No lapse. The new policy goes on risk before the old one ends: at renewal, terms bound before expiry; mid-term, the old policy cancelled under its own terms only once the replacement is in force.
Make a fair presentation. Under the Insurance Act 2015 you must disclose every material circumstance you know or ought to know; a written presentation is how a broker earns better terms than a form.
Plan for run-off. If you later close or merge, run-off cover keeps past work insured; ask how the new insurer prices it before you move.

When to stay with Hiscox

Stay with Hiscox if the online product does what your contracts and regulator require, the limit is within the £10 million it offers, your history is clean and the renewal premium is fair for the risk. Hiscox is an established PI insurer with an ICAEW and RICS listing, a published worked example of its pricing and a broker channel for larger risks; moving for the sake of moving gains nothing. Where a broker-placed Hiscox policy is the right answer, that is one of the quotes we return.

If your existing cover is right, we say so in a stay-put letter, free and without obligation.

Related Apex pages

Sources checked 6 September 2026

Frequently asked

Is it cheaper to buy PI through a broker than from Hiscox?

Sometimes, and sometimes not; anyone who promises otherwise has not seen your risk. A broker’s value is in reaching insurers that do not sell online, presenting the risk properly, and showing three or four quotes with limits, excesses, retroactive dates and exclusions side by side. Where the online policy is the best fit at the best price, we tell you so in writing.

Will my premium go up if I move?

Not because you moved. Premium follows the risk: activities, fee income, limit, excess, claims history and the insurer’s appetite. A firm that has outgrown an online product has usually grown, taken on bigger contracts or acquired a history, and that, not the change of channel, moves the price. Insurance Premium Tax at 12% applies to any premium, whoever arranges it.

Can I keep my retroactive date?

Yes, and you must. The new policy’s retroactive date should be no later than the one on your current schedule, so that every piece of work done since you first held continuous cover stays insured. We check the new schedule against your existing one before anything is bound, and we will not place a policy that shortens it without telling you plainly what that means.

Do I need to tell Hiscox I am leaving?

Read your policy documents and any renewal notice from Hiscox: they set out what happens at expiry and on cancellation, including any refund on a mid-term cancellation. Before you leave, notify the outgoing insurer of any circumstance you are aware of that could become a claim, because a new policy will exclude it. We prepare that notification with you as part of the move.

Can I switch mid-term or only at renewal?

Either. Renewal is simplest because the old policy ends naturally. Mid-term works where there is a reason, such as a contract that demands a higher limit or a wording your current policy cannot provide; the new policy goes on risk first and the old one is then cancelled under its own terms, which may or may not return premium. Nothing is cancelled until the replacement is bound.

Will Apex quote the same insurer as Hiscox?

Possibly. Hiscox writes PI through brokers as well as direct — its broker page lists professional indemnity for small, medium and large businesses — and Apex’s Hiscox vs Markel comparison records that Apex has access to multiple PI markets including Hiscox. Whether Hiscox is among the three or four quotes we return depends on the risk and on Hiscox’s appetite; we do not promise any particular insurer, and a broker-channel wording is compared on its terms, not its name.

What if I have had a claim, a circumstance or a CCJ?

Say so at the start. Hiscox’s PI page notes that previous claims affect price, and any new insurer will ask the same question. Our Non-Standard PI Desk deals with claims, notified circumstances, CCJs, declines and regulator findings and gives one of three answers within five working days of having the documents: yes with indicative terms, yes with restrictions explained, or no with the reasons and what would change them.

How long does a move take?

It depends on the risk and on how close you are to renewal. A firm with its last schedule, a claims summary and fee figures to hand can usually be presented to insurers quickly; regulated or non-standard risks take longer because insurers ask more. We publish no turnaround promise for standard risks; for non-standard ones the desk commits to five working days.

Send us your Hiscox schedule and we will tell you where you stand

A named broker checks the limit, retroactive date and exclusions against your contracts and regulator, then either re-markets the risk or tells you in writing to stay put. 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. Statements about other providers were taken from those providers’ own websites on 6 September 2026 and may have changed since; any prices are the starting prices they publish, on the basis they state, not typical premiums and not quotes. Provider names are the trade marks of their owners and are used only to identify them; no provider named has endorsed this page. Apex publishes no premium figures of its own on this page.