Professional Indemnity Insurance for New Solicitors — Your First Policy (2026)

Reviewed by Apex Insurance Brokers · Last reviewed 2026-08-05

1. Do you actually need PI as a new solicitor?

If you are setting up your own practice — as a sole practitioner, a partnership, an LLP or a recognised body — the answer is an unambiguous yes, and the requirement bites immediately. Professional indemnity insurance is one of the conditions the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) places on firms it authorises. You cannot lawfully deliver reserved legal activities to the public through your own firm without it in place. Law firms weighing up who should handle the placement can read about a broker who places solicitors PI every day.

It helps to separate two reasons the cover exists, because both apply to you from the start.

The first is regulatory duty. The SRA requires firms it authorises to hold qualifying insurance that meets its Minimum Terms and Conditions. This is a client-protection rule, not a nice-to-have: the whole point is that if a member of the public suffers loss because of a mistake by a solicitor, there is an insurer standing behind the firm to put it right, even if the firm itself could never afford to. Practising without compliant cover puts your authorisation — and your ability to call yourself a practising solicitor in your own firm — at risk.

The second is commercial reality. Even if the rules did not compel it, you would want this cover. Legal work carries real exposure: a missed limitation date, a drafting error in a contract, a conveyancing slip, advice that turns out to be wrong. Claims can arrive years after the work was done, and defence costs alone can be substantial before any question of who was actually at fault is settled. PII responds to allegations, not just proven negligence, which means it funds your defence when a disappointed client blames you — including when the complaint is misconceived.

One nuance worth understanding early: if you are employed by another firm and practising under its authorisation, that firm's policy covers your work. The obligation to arrange PII sits with the firm. The moment you strike out on your own, that obligation becomes yours.

2. When cover must start — and why day one matters

Your cover needs to be live before you accept instructions from your first client. Not the day you open a bank account, not the day the website goes up — the day you start acting. In practice you should treat the start date of your policy and the start date of your firm's client-facing activity as the same date.

There are two reasons a new solicitor should be almost obsessive about this.

The first is regulatory. Being authorised by the SRA and holding qualifying insurance go hand in hand. A gap, even a short one, is a serious compliance problem.

The second reason is structural, and it is the single most important thing to grasp about how this insurance behaves. PII is written on a "claims-made" basis (we explain this properly in section 5). In short: it is the policy in force when a claim is made against you that responds — not the policy that was in force when you did the work. If your first day of practice is not covered, and a client made a claim relating to that early work later on when you did have cover, the insurer can decline it on the basis that the problem originated before your cover began. Starting cover cleanly on day one closes that door before it can ever open.

So the sequence for a new firm is simple: get authorised, arrange your PII to incept on the day you will start taking on clients, and keep it continuous from there. Never let it lapse, and never leave a gap between one policy ending and the next beginning.

3. How much cover a new firm needs

The amount of cover is called your limit of indemnity — the maximum the insurer will pay. For solicitors, the starting point is set for you: the SRA's Minimum Terms and Conditions prescribe a minimum level of cover that qualifying insurance must provide, and the required floor depends on how your firm is structured. Your broker will confirm the exact minimum that applies to your firm type, so you are never guessing.

The real question for most new firms is whether the regulatory minimum is enough, because it is a floor, not a recommendation. Several things push a sensible firm to buy more:

• The value of the matters you handle. A firm doing high-value commercial or property work can generate a single claim far larger than a firm handling modest disputes. The limit should reflect the largest realistic loss a single piece of your work could cause a client.
• Client-mandated limits. This one catches new firms out. Lenders on your conveyancing panel, and larger corporate clients, frequently require solicitors to carry a limit of indemnity above the regulatory minimum as a condition of being instructed. If you cannot show the limit they demand, you simply do not get the work.
• Defence costs. Even an unmeritorious claim consumes money to defend. A comfortable limit means those costs are not eating into what is available to settle a genuine loss.

Illustratively, firms commonly discuss limits such as £1m, £2m, £5m or higher — these are generic reference points, not quotes, and the right figure for you depends on your work. A practical approach for a new firm is to start from the SRA minimum, then ask two questions: what is the biggest matter I realistically expect to touch in the coming year, and does any client or panel I want to join require more? The higher of those answers is usually your real number. If you are not sure, that is exactly the kind of judgement a broker is there to help with.

4. What a first policy costs — what underwriters look at for a new firm

We will not quote a price here, because there is no meaningful "average" for solicitors' PII — it is priced firm by firm. What is useful for a first-timer is understanding what an underwriter is actually assessing, so you can present your new firm well.

An insurer is trying to gauge the likelihood and potential size of a future claim. For an established firm they lean heavily on claims history. A brand-new firm has none — which is neither good nor bad in itself, it simply shifts the focus onto other factors:

• Your estimated turnover (fee income). A reasonable, honest projection for your first year. More work generally means more exposure, so this is a core rating factor. Estimate realistically rather than optimistically.
• The type of work you will do. The mix of practice areas matters a great deal. Some areas are viewed as carrying more claims risk than others — conveyancing and certain financial or investment-related work, for example, tend to attract closer scrutiny than lower-risk areas. Be clear and specific about your intended split.
• The experience and qualifications of the people involved. Your years in practice, the areas you have worked in before, and the seniority of those joining you all speak to how well the work will be handled. A new firm run by experienced solicitors is a very different proposition from one with no track record, and underwriters recognise that.
• How the firm is set up. Your structure, systems, supervision arrangements and file-management approach give an insurer comfort that mistakes are less likely and more likely to be caught early.

Two honest points for a new firm. First, insurers do write cover for start-ups routinely — not having a history does not shut you out. Second, accuracy is everything. The information you give forms the basis of the contract, and getting your turnover estimate or work-type split wrong (even innocently) can cause problems at claim time. If you are unsure how to describe your firm, tell your broker in plain language and let them translate it into the right form.

When you are ready to see real numbers for your specific firm, start your quote with Apex and we will approach suitable insurers on your behalf.

5. "Claims-made" explained simply — and why continuity matters from the start

This is the concept that trips up more first-time buyers than any other, so it is worth getting straight now.

Most people assume insurance works like car cover: the policy in force when the incident happens is the one that pays. PII does not work that way. It works on a claims-made basis, which means the policy that responds is the one in force on the day the claim is made against you — regardless of when you actually did the work.

Picture it concretely. You give advice in your first year of practice. Three years later a client decides that advice caused them a loss and brings a claim. It is your current policy — the one live at the moment the claim lands — that deals with it, not the policy you held back when you did the work. Provided the earlier work falls within your cover and you have held qualifying insurance continuously, you are protected.

Two consequences follow, and both point the same way for a new firm:

Never let cover lapse. Because it is the current policy that answers for past work, a gap in cover is dangerous. If you are uninsured on the day a claim arrives, there may be nothing to respond to it — even if you were fully covered when the work was done. Continuous, unbroken cover from day one is what keeps your entire back-history protected.

Cover has to continue after you stop. Because claims can surface years after the work, you cannot simply cancel the policy when you retire, close the firm or merge. This is what run-off cover is for — it keeps you protected for past work after the firm stops trading. The SRA's framework is built around this, and it is a reason to work with a broker who will keep you on the right side of it for the life of your firm, not just year one.

6. How to buy your first policy — what you will need

The good news for a new firm: your proposal is usually shorter than an established firm's, because you have less history to disclose. Here is what to have ready.

• Your firm's details and structure. Trading name, legal structure (sole practitioner, partnership, LLP, recognised body) and your SRA authorisation position.
• An estimate of first-year fee income. A realistic projection — the basis for much of the pricing.
• Your intended areas of work and the rough split between them. The more precise, the better the quote.
• Details of the fee-earners. Who is practising, their qualifications and their relevant experience.
• Your desired start date and limit of indemnity. So cover can be set to incept on your first client-facing day at the right level.

What you generally will not have — and will not be expected to produce — is years of claims history or prior-firm accounts. That absence is normal for a start-up and does not count against you.

You have a choice about how to buy. You can approach insurers directly, but a broker like Apex works for you, not the insurer: we help you describe your firm accurately, place the risk with insurers who understand solicitors' work, confirm the cover meets the SRA's Minimum Terms, and stay on hand when you have a question or, one day, a claim. For a first-time buyer navigating an unfamiliar market, that guidance is the point.

7. Common first-timer mistakes to avoid

• Leaving it to the last minute. Arrange cover before you take on your first client, not after. Give yourself time to get the quote right rather than rushing on the eve of opening.
• Buying only the bare minimum limit. The SRA floor is a starting point. If your work — or a lender or corporate client — demands more, the minimum leaves you exposed or locked out of instructions.
• Under-estimating turnover or misdescribing your work. Optimistic or vague figures may feel harmless, but they undermine the contract you are relying on. Be accurate.
• Not understanding claims-made cover. Assuming an old policy will handle old work, or that you can cancel and walk away, is the classic misunderstanding. Continuity — and eventually run-off — is essential.
• Allowing a gap at renewal. Once you are up and running, renew in good time every year so cover never breaks.
• Not telling your insurer about a potential problem promptly. If something might turn into a claim, notify it. Sitting on it can prejudice your cover.

8. About Apex — and how fast we can quote

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is an FCA-authorised insurance broker based in Bristol (FRN 724952). We place professional indemnity cover for professional firms and we understand the particular requirements that apply to solicitors — including the SRA's Minimum Terms and Conditions your policy has to satisfy.

For a new firm, our job is to make the first policy straightforward: help you present your firm accurately, find insurers who write solicitors' PII, confirm the cover is compliant and set it to start cleanly on the day you begin practising. Because a start-up's proposal is short, we can often turn a quote around quickly once we have your basic details.

Setting up your own firm is a significant step. Getting your professional indemnity cover right from day one is one of the few parts of it that is genuinely non-negotiable — and one of the easier parts to get right with the correct guidance. When you are ready, start your quote and we will take it from there.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This guide is general information, not advice on a specific policy.