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Broker comparison · Lockton · Solicitors’ PII · Checked 6 September 2026
Lockton calls itself the world’s largest privately held, independent broker; its solicitors’ PII team is in London and its UK offices include Bristol. Apex is a director-owned PI specialist in Bristol. What can be verified about each, and when each fits a law firm.
Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex
In short
Lockton is a privately held global broker founded in Kansas City in 1966 which calls itself the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage, with more than 65,000 clients and 150 offices in 43 countries by its own account. Its UK business, Lockton Companies LLP (London; UK offices include Bristol), has a solicitors’ PII team led by four named partners and has brokered the Law Society of Scotland’s Master Policy since 2017. Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent broker established in Bristol in 2009, owned entirely by its directors and directly FCA-authorised since 2016, with access to over 30 markets including Lloyd’s. The honest steer: a Scottish practice, a large or international firm or a layered programme suits Lockton; a small or medium-sized firm in England and Wales that wants one named broker and competing quotes is what Apex is built for.
Lockton’s UK home page opens with “Lockton is the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage”; its Our story page calls the firm “a family organization” and reports 13,100+ insurance and risk specialists, 65,000+ clients and 94% client retention. An announcement of 19 December 2025 (Lockton, 19 December 2025) records that founder Jack Lockton opened the first office in Kansas City, Missouri in 1966, and describes “the world’s largest privately held, independent insurance brokerage” with “more than 150 offices across 43 countries”.
In the UK the business is Lockton Companies LLP, The St Botolph Building, 138 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7AG, authorised and regulated by the FCA (site footer); its office finder also lists UK offices in Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol (Trinity Quay, 2 Avon Street, BS2 0NB), Edinburgh, Finchley, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle. Its solicitors’ PII page names four partners with direct lines — Marc Rowson, Simon Mantell, Brian Boehmer and Brett Warburton-Smith — promises “full claims support and expert advocacy” and “one main point of contact”, and publishes a Solicitors PII Market Report 2026. The Law Society of Scotland has reappointed Lockton “to administer and broker its Master Policy for Professional Indemnity insurance from 1 January 2027”, a role it has held since 2017 (Law Society of Scotland, 24 June 2026).
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 UK 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.
Those commitments are dated and signed in the Independence Charter.
| What can be verified | Lockton | Apex Insurance Brokers |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Privately held; “a family organization”. UK business: Lockton Companies LLP. | Owned entirely by its directors; not for sale. |
| Established | 1966, Kansas City, Missouri. | 2009, Bristol. |
| Independent or group-owned | Independent of any listed or insurer group by its own description; a privately held global group. | Independent: no consolidator, private-equity or external shareholder. |
| PI specialism | Solicitors’ PII is a dedicated team within a multi-line global broker; four partners named. | Professional indemnity and commercial insurance for UK professional firms. |
| How it says it accesses the market | Not itemised; its FAQ suggests asking any broker which insurers it can access directly. | Over 30 markets including Lloyd’s via wholesale; usually three or four competing quotes. |
| Named contact model | “One main point of contact”; partners listed with direct lines. | A named broker: the same person from first quote to renewal and claims. |
| Offices | London (The St Botolph Building); its office finder also lists UK offices in Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol (Trinity Quay, BS2 0NB), Edinburgh, Finchley, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle; “more than 150 offices across 43 countries”. | Bristol (53 Queen Charlotte Street, BS1 4HQ) and Weymouth. |
| Professional-body appointments published | Law Society of Scotland Master Policy broker since 2017, reappointed from 1 January 2027. | None; not tied to any professional-body scheme. |
Sources are linked above. “Not published” means we could not find it on the firm’s own site, not that the firm lacks it.
For some law firms the answer is straightforward, and we would rather say so than waste your time.
Nothing in a professional indemnity policy stops you asking a second broker for a view, and asking does not commit you to moving.
Two solicitor-specific points. The SRA’s SRA participating insurers list notes that “most participating insurers prefer to be contacted by broker only”, so a second broker is the practical route to a second view. And the SRA minimum terms require £2m each claim for sole practitioners and partnerships and £3m for LLPs and companies, with a 30-day extended policy period, a 60-day cessation period and six years’ run-off; compare above the minimum, not against it.
Nobody can honestly say before the market has seen your firm. The premium is set by the insurer that quotes, on your fee income, your work, your claims record, the limit and the excess; brokers differ in which insurers they approach and how they present the risk. The only reliable test is a second quote on the same basis. If ours is not better, we say stay put, in writing.
You can ask both to quote, and at renewal many firms do. Many PI underwriters will only consider a risk through one broker at a time, so tell each broker which markets the other has approached. Once cover is placed, one broker holds the policy. Keep the Lockton renewal on track until you have decided.
Not from us. We do not contact your existing broker, and a comparison quote is confidential to you. If an insurer that already holds your risk through Lockton declines to quote us because it is already engaged, we tell you that is why and go to the markets that have not yet seen your firm.
Professional indemnity is claims-made: the policy in force on the day a claim is made responds, provided its retroactive date covers the work in question. Any circumstance you already know about is notified to the outgoing insurer before you move; claims made afterwards, including about past work, fall to the new policy, and at Apex every notification gets director-level attention.
The UK professional indemnity market is served by a limited number of specialist insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates, and a broker’s reach depends on its own agencies and wholesale relationships. Apex has access to over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s via wholesale, and tells you which insurers it approached and which declined, so you can see the overlap yourself.
By its own description, yes: privately held, “a family organization”, and “the world’s largest independent insurance brokerage”. It is not owned by an insurer or a listed group. It is also a global business of 13,100-plus people rather than a firm owned by the handful of directors who work in it, which is what Apex means by independent. Both are legitimate; they produce different relationships.
The Law Society of Scotland’s Master Policy is administered and brokered by Lockton, reappointed in June 2026 from 1 January 2027, and the Society says the policy covers all Scottish solicitors in private practice, so for a practice regulated in Scotland, Lockton is the route to that cover. In England and Wales there is no master policy: the SRA runs an open market of participating insurers.
Sometimes, for large or layered programmes, where scale brings access to capacity and facilities a small broker cannot offer. Not automatically for a small or medium-sized firm: the premium is rated on your firm, and what moves it is the insurer’s appetite for your profession and the quality of the presentation. Ask which insurers each broker actually approached for you.
Send your current schedule, the proposal form you have already completed and your renewal terms. A named Apex broker comes back with competing quotes on the same basis, or a stay-put letter if you are already well placed. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Get a comparison quote Ask for a stay-put letterApex 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 brokers come from their own websites, Companies House, the FCA register, professional bodies or dated announcements, checked on 6 September 2026, and are linked where quoted. Any firm named here may ask us to correct its entry; we will make and date the change.
