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PI cost data · Updated 6 September 2026
In Apex’s recent placements an architect billing around £150,000 typically paid £1,130–£2,070 a year for £1m of professional indemnity cover and an accountancy practice billing £500,000 paid £1,520–£2,200 — the figure for your firm depends on profession, fee income, limit, activities, claims history and excess, so this page gives real ranges rather than one number.
Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex
In short
Professional indemnity insurance in the UK is priced on your profession, annual fee income, limit of indemnity, activities, claims history and excess, so there is no list price. In Apex Insurance Brokers’ recent placements (around 940 policies, data extracted 6 September 2026) the middle half of architects billing about £150,000 paid £1,130–£2,070 a year for a £1m limit (n=128), accountancy practices billing £500,000 paid £1,520–£2,200 (n=49), and chartered surveyors billing about £50,000 paid £650–£1,430 (n=32). Advertised ‘from £6 a month’ prices are tenth-percentile figures or IT-contractor quotes at £50,000–£100,000 limits, not what a professional firm pays. This page is for UK professional firms budgeting for PI. Apex is an independent broker, owned by its directors, placing PI across more than 30 insurer markets, so these ranges come from competing quotes, not one insurer’s rate card.
There is no list price: each policy is underwritten on the firm, so the honest answer is a range from real placements. The figures below are the middle half of what Apex clients paid — a quarter paid less than the bottom of each range and a quarter more than the top — converted to a £1m limit. n is the placements behind each figure.
£1,130–£2,070
Architect, about £150k fees, £1m limit (n=128)£1,520–£2,200
Accountancy practice, £500k fees, £1m (n=49)£650–£1,430
Chartered surveyor, about £50k fees, £1m (n=32)0.34%–0.56% of fees
Accountants, all sizes: the lowest rate in our data (n=132)£2,420–£3,800
Law firm, about £150k fees, at the £2m SRA minimum (n=16; see note)£1,760–£3,270
Civil or structural engineer, £50k fees, £1m (n=9, indicative)These figures apply to any firm that carries PI because it gives advice or produces designs, because a client contract demands it, or because ARB, RICS, ICAEW, ACCA, AAT or the SRA demands it.
| Profession | £25k–£100k fees shown at £50k | £100k–£250k at £158k | £250k–£1m at £500k | £1m–£3m at £1.73m | All sizes premium as % of fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architect | £720–£1,260 n=171 | £1,190–£2,180 n=128 | £2,810–£5,780 n=139 | £8,800–£13,700 n=11 | 0.82%–2.33% n=526 |
| Accountant | from £300 n=36 · minimum-premium band | £590–£860 n=26 | £1,520–£2,200 n=49 | £5,490–£9,350 n=20 | 0.34%–0.56% n=132 |
| Chartered surveyor | £650–£1,430 n=32 | £1,240–£2,810 n=20 | £2,220–£3,250 n=9 · indicative | — | 0.92%–2.42% n=71 |
| Solicitor (at £2m, the SRA minimum) | £2,530–£4,260 n=6 · indicative | £2,550–£4,010 n=16 | £11,570–£29,900 n=12 · see note | — | 1.21%–2.80% n=45 |
| Civil or structural engineer | £1,760–£3,270 n=9 · indicative | £2,510–£4,270 n=8 · indicative | £7,330–£11,380 n=8 · indicative | — | 1.68%–3.99% n=29 |
Every large insurer and comparison site advertises a ‘from’ price. Each is true of the lowest-paying slice of its customers, and none describes what a professional firm pays. Their own footnotes say so:
Three things separate those figures from ours. Some are tenth-percentile figures — Simply Business, AXA, MoneySuperMarket’s own from-price — so nine in ten customers paid more. Others are quotes for the smallest risk the insurer writes: an IT contractor with under £25,000 of income at a £50,000 or £100,000 limit, whereas a regulated firm buys £250,000 to £2m or more. And our ranges are the middle half of a fee band, so half of all clients sit inside them.
What the middle half pays is nowhere near £6 a month: an architect with £50,000 of fees paid £720–£1,260 a year for £1m (n=171), ten to seventeen times the £72 a year that £6 a month adds up to. Only the smallest firms come close: architects billing under £25,000 paid 3.38%–6.23% of fees (n=80) against 0.56%–1.16% at £250,000–£1m (n=139), because the £300 minimum premium dominates at the bottom.
Pick a profession, enter your annual fee income and choose a limit: the result is the middle half of comparable Apex placements at that limit, floored at £300 and rounded to £10. Outside the published bands it says so.
The ranges on this page come from Apex Insurance Brokers’ own recent professional indemnity placements — around 940 policies after outlier removal (data extracted 6 September 2026). For each profession and fee band we took the premium each client paid as a percentage of their annual fees, removed unusually high outliers, and show the middle half of what remained: a quarter of clients paid less than the bottom of the range and a quarter paid more than the top.
Every policy has been converted to the equivalent cost of a £1 million limit of indemnity so that different limits can be compared like for like; figures for other limits are scaled from the £1m figure. Premium ranges are the rate range multiplied by a representative fee figure, subject to a minimum premium of £300, and rounded to the nearest £10.
We only show a range where we have at least five placements in that cell; where we have fewer, the cell is left blank. Small cells (nine placements or fewer) are marked as indicative.
The extract does not record the look-back period of the placements, so we describe them as recent and will state the period at the next refresh. Insurance Premium Tax is charged at 12% on UK general insurance premiums. Our extract does not record whether each premium was captured before or after IPT, so the figures may be quoted before or after IPT — treat them as indicative to within that margin.
These figures are not a quote. Your premium depends on your activities, claims history, limit, excess, and the insurer’s view of your business. Get a quote for a figure specific to you.
We are a broker, so read this knowing that. Direct or a comparison site is a reasonable choice for a sole trader with fees under about £25,000, no regulator minimum, no contract limit, nothing to disclose and standard UK-only work, the profile the from-prices are aimed at. A broker earns its place when:
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.
There is no meaningful national average: a sole trader buying £50,000 of cover and a law firm buying £3m are not the same product. The useful figure is the middle half for firms like yours: an architect billing about £150,000 paid £1,130–£2,070 a year for £1m (n=128) and an accountancy practice billing £500,000 paid £1,520–£2,200 (n=49).
For most professional firms a regulator or a client contract settles the question. Where it is a choice, weigh the premium against defending one allegation of negligence without cover: premiums ran at 0.34%–0.56% of fees for accountants (n=132) and 0.82%–2.33% for architects (n=526), defence costs included.
Measured against fee income, no: the middle half of accountants paid 0.34%–0.56% of fees, architects 0.82%–2.33% and civil or structural engineers 1.68%–3.99% (n=132, 526 and 29; the engineer figure is indicative). The smallest firms pay proportionally the most because of the £300 minimum premium; claims and high-risk work push a firm above the ranges.
Yes. You can buy PI directly from an insurer, through a comparison site or through a broker. In a regulated profession the policy must meet your regulator’s minimum terms, which the products at the advertised prices generally do not. An employee is normally covered by the employer’s policy.
Premiums for insurance bought wholly for the purposes of the business are normally an allowable expense for sole traders, partnerships and companies alike, and the Insurance Premium Tax on them is treated the same way. Confirm with your accountant.
Start with your regulator’s minimum — ARB £250,000, RICS £250,000 to £1m by turnover, ICAEW 2.5 times fees with a £250,000 floor (or £2m), SRA £2m or £3m — then the highest limit any client contract requires. The minimum limit calculator works out the regulator figure; how much PI do you need covers the rest.
A monthly figure is usually the annual premium divided by twelve, sometimes with a credit agreement and interest on top. Markel Direct, for example, states that its monthly figure is the “average equivalent monthly of the annual premium” and that a “higher first payment applies”. Compare on the annual premium plus IPT at 12%.
Usually. Our rate guide applies a claims uplift of 1.10 for architects, accountants and surveyors and 1.19 for solicitors, and some insurers decline outright. A CCJ is a credit event rather than a claim, but online forms often treat it as a decline. See PI after a claim or notification and PI with a CCJ.
Because they describe different things. A from-price is the tenth percentile of an insurer’s own customers, or a quote for an IT contractor at a £50,000 limit. A broker’s quotes are priced on your fee income, activities, limit and history, on a wording that meets your regulator’s terms: a bigger product, not a dearer route.
Tell us your profession, annual fee income, split of activities, staff numbers, claims history and the limit you need. The quote page lists what to have ready; use the get a quote form or call 0117 325 0027 and speak to the broker who will place the cover.
Tell us your profession, fee income and limit and your named broker will come back with competing quotes. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Get a quote Start the proposal formApex 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. Premium figures shown are historic typical ranges from Apex’s own placements, not quotes.
