Hard-to-place professional indemnity · Overview · UK

Non-standard professional indemnity insurance: a broker for the risks online forms decline

If a proposal form has ever ended your quote with ‘we are unable to offer terms’, this page is for you. Non-standard does not mean uninsurable. It means the risk needs presenting to an underwriter rather than filtering by an algorithm.

Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex

In short

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 with non-standard risks 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. “Non-standard” covers anything that fails an online filter: a county court judgment, adverse credit or a previous insolvency, a claims or circumstance history, a decline or non-renewal, an unspent conviction or a regulator’s disciplinary finding, or simply work that generic wordings do not understand. We present the issue plainly, with evidence, to the insurers that underwrite it, and we tell you early and honestly if the market is not there. Our Non-Standard PI Desk commits to a straight answer — yes, no, or the terms — within five working days.

What makes a professional indemnity risk ‘non-standard’

Online and scheme products work by asking a dozen filter questions and declining anyone who answers the wrong way. The answers that most often trigger a decline:

A county court judgment against the firm or a principal, satisfied or not.
Adverse credit or insolvency history — an IVA, bankruptcy, a previous company that went into liquidation or administration, a CVA.
Claims or notified circumstances in the last five or six years, particularly an open claim at renewal.
A previous decline, non-renewal, cancellation or special terms imposed by any insurer.
An unspent conviction of a principal, or a regulator or professional-body disciplinary finding.
Unusual work: fire safety and cladding, valuations for lenders, defined-benefit pension transfers, crypto and blockchain, US and Canadian clients, financial promotions, medical and clinical work, drones, or a start-up with no trading history.
Scale or structure that a scheme cannot handle: very high fee income, multiple entities, a mixed professional practice, or a firm that is a successor to another practice.

None of these is a reason not to insure you. Each is a reason for a conversation with an underwriter rather than a form.

Pick the page that matches your situation

Or go straight to the profession page:

How Apex places non-standard professional indemnity

A conversation first. We ask what happened and what has changed. Many of the ‘declines’ we see were a form misreading an ordinary situation.
A written presentation, not a form. The issue is stated plainly, with context and evidence, on page one — insurers respect that and price it better than a ‘yes’ in a box with no explanation.
The right markets, in the right order. Among the 30-plus markets we use, including Lloyd’s, some underwrite non-standard risks as a matter of course and some never will. Approaching everyone at once damages your prospects; we go to the ones that fit.
Terms explained before you bind. Premium, excess, exclusions, retroactive date and payment terms, side by side, with our plain-language view of the trade-offs.
The same named broker afterwards — for the mid-term question, the certificate a client wants, and next year’s renewal, when a clean twelve months will help.

What you have to disclose

Professional indemnity for a business is governed by the Insurance Act 2015, which requires a fair presentation of the risk: you must disclose every material circumstance you know or ought to know, or enough to put a prudent insurer on notice to ask further questions. A CCJ, a claim, a previous decline, an insolvency event or a disciplinary finding is almost always material. If the breach is deliberate or reckless the insurer can avoid the policy and keep the premium; if not, the remedy is proportionate to what the insurer would have done had it known, which can still mean a reduced claim payment or a policy treated as if it had different terms.

The practical point is simple: disclosure is not what stops you getting cover. Non-disclosure is what stops you getting paid.

What to have ready

Your current schedule and policy wording, and the expiry date.
The last proposal form or presentation, and any correspondence in which an insurer declined, loaded or non-renewed you.
A short written account of the issue — what happened, when, why, and what has changed since.
Evidence where it exists: a certificate of satisfaction for a CCJ, a discharge certificate, a regulator’s final decision, a claims summary from the insurer.
Fee income for the last three years and a description of the work you do now.

What we can and cannot promise

A straight answer within five working days. That is the Non-Standard PI Desk standard: yes, no, or the terms — with the reasons and what would change the answer. How the Desk works.
We cannot guarantee terms. Some risks are uninsurable in the standard market at a given moment, and we would rather tell you that in week one than in the last week before expiry.
Terms may be restricted. A higher premium, a larger excess, an exclusion, or premium payable in full rather than monthly are all common outcomes for non-standard risks. We explain each one before you bind.
Never let existing cover lapse while we work. A gap in claims-made cover can leave past work permanently uninsured.
Full disclosure is non-negotiable. We will not present a risk in a way that hides a material fact. It would not protect you: under the Insurance Act 2015 the insurer could avoid the policy at claim time.

Frequently asked

Is non-standard professional indemnity always more expensive?

Usually more than a clean risk of the same size, but often much less than people fear. A satisfied CCJ with a clear explanation, or a single closed claim with a process change, can attract a modest loading or none at all with the right insurer. The expensive outcome is going to the wrong markets first.

Will you approach every insurer to find one that says yes?

No. Blanket-marketing a non-standard risk tells the market it is being shopped, and insurers that would have written it decline on principle. We approach the insurers that underwrite the issue you have, in an order that protects your position.

Can you place cover if another broker has already been declined everywhere?

Sometimes. It depends on why, how the risk was presented, and how long ago. Send us the correspondence and we will tell you plainly whether a fresh presentation would change the answer.

How long does a non-standard placement take?

Longer than a standard one because underwriters ask questions. Allow two to four weeks where you can. If your expiry is days away, tell us today and we will say straight away what is realistic.

Do you place non-standard PI for every profession?

For the professions we specialise in — solicitors, accountants, surveyors, architects, engineers, financial advisers, insurance brokers, IT and management consultants and designers — and for most other professional and consultancy firms. For some professions, such as medical practitioners, the market is specialist enough that we will tell you if someone else is better placed.

Tell us what the form said no to

Send us the decline, the schedule and a paragraph on what happened. A named Apex broker will tell you plainly whether we can place it, on roughly what terms, and what to do next if the answer is not yet. 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 about professional indemnity insurance, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.