Category: Sector × city · Reviewed by Taylor Watts, Broker · New Business · Last reviewed May 2026
Apex Insurance Brokers is a Bristol-headquartered, UK-wide Professional Indemnity (PI) broker that acts for accountancy practices across London — independent City firms, West End and Mayfair private client and family office firms, audit-registered firms acting for AIM and listed entities, and the long tail of smaller chartered and certified practices spread across the boroughs. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference 724952).
We do not maintain a walk-in office in London. The accountancy firms we act for in London generally prefer to be served by a named broker working remotely — by video call, telephone and secure document exchange — rather than by a generalist sitting in a London office. The substance of the conversation is the same whether the broker is in Bristol or in EC4: what limit, what wording, what claims advocacy, and how the practice manages its turnover-linked minimum.
Accountants PI in the United Kingdom is regulated principally through the professional bodies — ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA and the smaller bodies — each of which prescribes a minimum policy specification and, for some, a fee-income-linked minimum monetary limit. In London, the practical limit is again usually driven by client requirements rather than by the bare regulatory floor.
London is the largest concentration of accountancy activity in the United Kingdom. The Big Four (Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC) have their UK headquarters in the City and Canary Wharf, and the larger mid-tier networks — BDO, Grant Thornton, RSM, Mazars (now Forvis Mazars), Crowe, BHP, Saffery and others — maintain large London offices. These firms typically carry layered PI programmes placed by specialist brokers and are not Apex’s natural client.
The firms Apex more usually acts for sit a tier or two below that. Independent City and Canary Wharf firms with a corporate, tax and transactional bias. West End and Mayfair private client and family office firms in the £2 million to £15 million fee-income range, advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals, international families and the lower end of the institutional asset-management market. Audit-registered firms acting for AIM-listed companies and the smaller end of the Main Market, where the audit appointment changes the PI profile materially. Boutique tax practices, particularly those advising on cross-border work, non-dom changes, residence and domicile, R&D tax and digital-asset taxation. Practices specialising in financial services accounting, payroll and bookkeeping bureaux, and outsourced finance functions for early-stage businesses across Shoreditch, King’s Cross and the City.
Several London-specific factors recur on PI submissions. Audit registration with the FRC and ICAEW or ACCA changes the underwriting picture and increases minimum limits. Private client work for non-doms, particularly given the 2024–25 reforms to the non-dom tax regime, has produced both a spike in advisory volume and a corresponding rise in suitability and complaint exposure. R&D tax credit disputes with HMRC, after several years of tightened compliance scrutiny, are a discrete claim category. Cryptoasset and digital-asset taxation is a niche where a handful of London firms have built specialist practices, and the PI position needs explicit consideration.
The professional bodies prescribe minimum policy specifications.
For ICAEW-regulated firms, the minimum monetary limit is the lower of 2.5 times gross fee income or £1.5 million, subject to a floor of £100,000. Audit-registered firms are subject to additional requirements through the audit regulations. The policy wording must meet the ICAEW PII Regulations.
For ACCA-regulated firms, the minimum is broadly similar in shape, with a floor and a fee-income-linked calculation, and the ACCA Rulebook prescribes the wording requirements.
CIMA, which does not regulate firms in the same way as ICAEW or ACCA, leaves the position largely contractual, although members in practice are expected to hold appropriate PI.
In practice, London firms routinely carry limits above the regulatory floor. Audit firms acting for listed entities — including AIM — frequently carry £5 million to £25 million on a layered basis. Mid-sized West End private client firms commonly carry £2 million to £10 million. Specialist tax practices acting on UHNW estates or cross-border work commonly carry £5 million or more. Client engagement letters with banks, large corporates and PE-backed targets often impose contractual minimums above the regulatory level.
More on the line generally is on our accountants sector page and our overview of professional indemnity insurance.
Audit claims sit at the top of the loss league. Audit of listed entities — including AIM-listed companies — carries materially higher exposure than non-audit work, and an audit failure on a high-profile collapse can produce both regulatory action by the FRC and large civil claims from shareholders, lenders and administrators. The interaction between regulatory defence costs, FRC investigation costs and PI policy wording is something we look at on every audit-firm renewal.
Tax advisory claims are a London staple. Failed R&D tax credit claims, where HMRC denies or claws back relief, have produced a meaningful claims volume since 2022. EIS and SEIS qualification claims, particularly where investors lose tax relief because the structure was non-compliant, generate substantial claims. Non-dom advice claims have risen in the wake of the 2024–25 reforms. Cross-border tax advice — particularly for US-connected individuals — produces concentrated exposures.
Cryptoasset taxation work has produced a specific claims category. The classification of crypto assets, the treatment of staking and yield, and the disclosure position to HMRC all generate live disputes, and a handful of London firms have specialist exposure.
Private client and probate accounting work on UHNW estates produces both quantum and long-tail exposure, similar to the equivalent solicitor’s work.
Insolvency-adjacent and corporate finance advisory claims — failed due diligence on PE transactions, errors in vendor financial preparation — also feature in the London claims population.
Tax investigation insurance is a separate product, distinct from PI, that some London firms offer to clients as a fee protection arrangement. It does not substitute for PI cover on advisory error.
Apex is independent and not tied to a single insurer or panel. For each London accountancy practice we approach the relevant section of the accountants PI market — Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale routes, specialist managing general agents and the company-market insurers active in the sector. We bring back terms with a written commentary, not a one-line premium ranking.
You deal with a named broker. Video calls handle renewal reviews and mid-term queries. Telephone access is direct on 0117 325 0027. Secure document exchange handles proposals, schedules and policy documents.
Claims advocacy is central. We help draft circumstance notifications, work with insurers and panel solicitors, and stay involved as the matter progresses — particularly important on audit notifications, FRC enquiries and R&D tax-related claims, where the regulatory and civil tracks run in parallel.
More on how we work with London-based firms generally is on our London page.
No. Apex is headquartered in Bristol and serves London accountancy firms remotely, by video meeting, telephone and secure document exchange.
For ICAEW-regulated firms, the minimum monetary limit is the lower of 2.5 times gross fee income or £1.5 million, subject to a £100,000 floor. Audit-registered firms have additional requirements. London firms routinely carry significantly more, often £5 million or above, driven by client engagement letter terms.
Yes. Audit-registered firms — including those auditing AIM-listed entities — change the underwriting picture, and the limit, wording and excess all need to reflect that. Layered programmes are common.
R&D tax disputes with HMRC are a discrete and growing claims category, and the PI submission needs to describe R&D advisory volume properly. Tax investigation insurance, where the firm offers fee protection to clients, is a separate product distinct from PI cover on advisory error, and we are happy to discuss the two together.
Cryptoasset and digital-asset taxation needs explicit declaration on the PI submission. Some insurers price the additional exposure; some apply sub-limits. We address this on broking.
The 2024–25 non-dom reforms have changed the advisory picture, and the PI submission needs to describe the firm’s exposure to advice given before and after the reforms. We discuss this with affected firms at renewal.
Yes. Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference 724952.
If you run an accountancy practice in London and would like to discuss Professional Indemnity cover — whether reviewing existing cover, approaching renewal, responding to a client engagement letter requirement, considering audit registration, or notifying a circumstance — please get in touch.
Telephone: 0117 325 0027 Email: info@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk
About Apex Insurance Brokers — Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA firm reference 724952. Registered in England and Wales, Companies House 07014570. Last reviewed: May 2026.
Apex Insurance Brokers serves UK professional services firms and commercial businesses. Call 0117 325 0027, email hello@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk, or request a quotation.
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