Contract requirements · Tenders · Checked 7 September 2026

Insurance requirements for tenders in the UK

Public-sector and framework tenders ask about insurance in a standard way: the buyer sets the level of each cover for the contract, and only employers’ liability carries a legal minimum.

Part of: A client or contract requires insurance

Insurance before you bid, and G-Cloud 15

No, you do not need the cover in place to bid. Under the Procurement Act 2023 a public buyer cannot require insurance for the contract before award (s.22(3)(b)); it can ask you to commit to the required levels from the contract start, with evidence such as a certificate or an insurer’s letter confirming it would offer the cover (the cover must then be verified before award). On G-Cloud 15 (RM1557.15), run by the Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Service), Lots 1a, 2a, 2b and 3 need £1 million professional indemnity, £1 million public liability and £5 million employers’ liability (Joint Schedule 3).

In short

Under the Procurement Act 2023, in force since 24 February 2025, the buyer sets insurance levels for each contract as conditions of participation, proportionate to the work. Procurements begun before then still use the Standard Selection Questionnaire (PPN 03/24, which replaced PPN 03/23), which asks about employers’ liability, public liability, professional indemnity and product liability. Only employers’ liability has a legal floor, at £5 million. Framework levels vary: G-Cloud 15 asks for £1 million professional indemnity on most lots and £50 million on Lot 1b. You confirm or commit at bid stage and provide evidence, such as a certificate, before the contract starts.

What tenders ask for

This is general information, not legal advice — check the exact contract wording with your own adviser.

Procurements started on or after 24 February 2025 run under the Procurement Act 2023. A buyer may set conditions of participation to check a supplier’s legal and financial capacity, but a condition may not “require insurance relating to the performance of the contract to be in place before the award of the contract” (Procurement Act 2023, s.22(3)(b)). Government guidance says the buyer can instead require you to hold the contractual levels from contract commencement and ask for evidence, such as a certificate or a letter from an insurer confirming it would offer the cover; employers’ liability, as a legal requirement, can be asked for as a condition in its own right (Cabinet Office guidance on conditions of participation).

Procurements that began earlier continue under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (transitional guidance). They use the Standard Selection Questionnaire, now issued under PPN 03/24, which replaced PPN 03/23. It asks you to “confirm whether you already have, or can commit to obtain, prior to the commencement of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated below” for employers’ (compulsory) liability, public liability, professional indemnity and product liability, each with the amount (£x) left for the buyer to fill in, and says buyers should set the level of cover “on a case-by-case basis” (PPN 03/24). Under both regimes the buyer sets the numbers per contract, and only employers’ liability has a fixed floor.

The detail that trips people up: you can commit to obtain cover, and only EL is fixed

Two points save a lot of worry at bid stage.

You do not have to hold the cover before you bid. Under the Procurement Act 2023 a buyer cannot require insurance for the contract to be in place before award, and on older procurements the questionnaire asks whether you “already have, or can commit to obtain, prior to the commencement of the contract” the levels indicated. So you can confirm that you will put the cover in place if you win, rather than carrying — and paying for — a high limit speculatively.
Only employers’ liability has a legal minimum. The £5 million floor is statutory; the public liability, professional indemnity and product liability figures are buyer-set and proportionate to the work, not fixed standards. Read the amounts the specific tender states, because they will differ from contract to contract.

Frameworks: how high the numbers can go

Framework agreements set their own levels, and they can range widely. G-Cloud 15 (RM1557.15) runs from 6 August 2026 to 5 February 2028 and is managed by the Government Commercial Agency: Crown Commercial Service became the Government Commercial Agency on 1 April 2026 (GCA: G-Cloud 15). Its Joint Schedule 3 sets these minimum levels, each for a single event or a series of related events and in the aggregate:

Lots 1a, 2a, 2b and 3 (cloud hosting, cloud software and cloud support): professional indemnity £1 million, public liability £1 million, employers’ liability £5 million.
Lot 1b (hosting above OFFICIAL): professional indemnity £50 million, public liability £20 million, employers’ liability £5 million.

The schedule also requires the cover from the contract’s effective date, professional indemnity for at least six years after the contract ends, evidence within 15 working days after each renewal, and notice within 20 working days of a related claim above 10% of the required sum insured (RM1557.15 Joint Schedule 3). A call-off order form can add further insurances.

Other buyers use their own contracts. The NHS Standard Contract 2026/27, for instance, requires providers and their sub-contractors to put in place and maintain appropriate indemnity arrangements for employers’ liability, public liability, professional negligence and, where relevant, clinical negligence, and to produce documentary evidence within 5 operational days of a written request, without fixing monetary limits in the standard text (NHS Standard Contract 2026/27, GC11). And note that Cyber Essentials certification, required for many government contracts under Procurement Policy Note 09/23, is a technical-controls certification, not insurance — do not confuse the two (PPN 09/23).

How to satisfy it

A tender’s insurance section is usually straightforward once you read it as a checklist:

Find the insurance table and note the level set against each cover — employers’ liability, public liability, professional indemnity and product liability.
For each, confirm whether you already hold it or will commit to obtain it before the contract starts.
Make sure your employers’ liability is at least £5 million, the one statutory floor.
Where you would need to increase or add cover on award, ask a broker to confirm the levels are obtainable, so you can commit with confidence.
If you win, provide the evidence asked for, usually a certificate of insurance, and keep Cyber Essentials separate if the contract also requires it.

Who to talk to

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 commercial and professional firms bidding for public-sector and framework work 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.

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.

Frequently asked

What insurance do I need to bid for public-sector contracts?

Usually four covers, the ones listed in the Standard Selection Questionnaire: employers’ liability, public liability, professional indemnity and product liability. The amounts are set by the buyer per contract and shown as placeholders, except employers’ liability, which has a £5 million statutory floor. You confirm whether you hold each, or can commit to obtain it before the contract starts. Under the Procurement Act 2023 the buyer sets these as conditions of participation and cannot require them to be in place before award.

Do I need to have the insurance before I bid?

No. Under the Procurement Act 2023 a public buyer cannot require insurance for the contract to be in place before award (s.22(3)(b)). It can ask you to commit to hold the required levels from the contract start and to show evidence, such as a certificate or a letter from an insurer confirming it would offer the cover; if you rely on a letter, the cover must be verified as in place before the contract is awarded. Older procurements ask whether you “already have, or can commit to obtain” the levels. A broker can confirm the levels are obtainable so you can commit safely.

Is there a minimum professional indemnity level for tenders?

There is no single statutory figure. The buyer sets the professional indemnity level for each contract, proportionate to the work and the risk, so it varies from tender to tender. The only cover with a legal minimum in the questionnaire is employers’ liability, at £5 million. Read the level the particular tender states rather than assuming a standard amount.

What insurance does a framework like G-Cloud require?

For G-Cloud 15 (RM1557.15), Joint Schedule 3 requires at least £1 million professional indemnity, £1 million public liability and £5 million employers’ liability on Lots 1a, 2a, 2b and 3, and £50 million professional indemnity, £20 million public liability and £5 million employers’ liability on Lot 1b. Cover must run from the contract’s effective date, and professional indemnity for six years after it ends. The framework runs from 6 August 2026 to 5 February 2028 and is managed by the Government Commercial Agency, formerly Crown Commercial Service. A call-off order form can add more.

What insurance does the NHS Standard Contract require?

It requires providers, and their sub-contractors, to put in place and maintain appropriate indemnity arrangements — covering areas such as employers’ liability, public liability and professional negligence — and to produce evidence on request. The standard text does not fix monetary limits, so the levels are determined for the particular contract. Check the exact wording of the contract you are bidding for.

Is Cyber Essentials the same as cyber insurance?

No. Cyber Essentials is a certification of technical controls — things like firewalls, access control and security updates — required for many government contracts under Procurement Policy Note 09/23. It is not insurance and contains no insurance element. A tender may require Cyber Essentials, cyber insurance, both or neither, so read which, and do not treat one as covering the other.

How do I prove I have the cover for a tender?

Usually with a certificate of insurance, which sets out the covers you hold, the limits and the periods. You typically provide it on award rather than at bid stage, when confirming that you hold or will obtain the cover is enough. Your broker can issue the certificate once the policies meeting the tender’s levels are in place.

Sources

Procurement Act 2023, section 22: conditions of participation; no requirement for contract insurance before award.
Cabinet Office: guidance on conditions of participation (updated 17 August 2026).
Cabinet Office: transitional and saving arrangements: procurements begun under the 2015 Regulations stay under them.
PPN 03/24: Standard Selection Questionnaire (replaced PPN 03/23).
Government Commercial Agency: G-Cloud 15 (RM1557.15) and Joint Schedule 3: insurance requirements.
GOV.UK: Employers’ liability insurance: cover of at least £5 million.
NHS Standard Contract 2026/27 General Conditions, GC11.

Get compliant cover and a certificate

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.

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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 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.