PI insurance for non-scheme solicitor firms — an independent broker's guide

Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director (SMF3, SMF16, SMF17). Last reviewed 10 July 2026.

Most conversations about solicitor PI in England and Wales focus on the largest firms, the largest brokers, and the schemes those brokers have built. That framing misses the majority of the profession. The SRA regulates more than 10,000 firms, and a substantial share of them place PI cover outside any major-broker scheme. This page explains what non-scheme placement means, which firms it fits, how the qualifying insurer market works outside schemes, and what the submission and renewal process looks like on an individual placement.

The scale of the SRA-regulated market

Published SRA statistics describe a regulated community of over 125,000 solicitors working across more than 10,000 regulated firms in England and Wales. Those firms sit across roughly 150 broker relationships and are served by a qualifying insurer market that in the 2025/26 indemnity period runs to 52 participating insurers on the SRA list — the highest number recorded in the modern era. That headline count needs a caveat. A participating insurer is any authorised insurer that has signed the Participating Insurers' Agreement and committed to MTC-compliant wording; the number of insurers actively writing new business at any given moment is materially smaller, typically in the range of six to eight for firms with a mainstream conveyancing, private client, litigation or corporate mix. Composition shifts every October as insurers open, close or reshape their appetite.

The distribution of firms across brokers is uneven. Some large brokers run scheme facilities — pre-negotiated arrangements with a defined panel of insurers, aimed at particular segments of the profession (large City firms, mid-market commercial firms, or the top end of the small-firm market). Scheme facilities fit firms whose profile matches the scheme's target segment. Between those positions sits the majority of the profession — sole practitioners, small partnerships of two to six partners, mid-sized regional firms — placed on a non-scheme basis by brokers who approach the qualifying insurer market firm-by-firm.

What non-scheme placement means

Non-scheme placement is straightforward. The broker approaches the qualifying insurer market on the firm's behalf as an individual risk. There is no scheme facility standing behind the placement, no pre-negotiated wording defaults, and no scheme rate card. Pricing is driven by the firm's own claims and circumstances profile, not by aggregated scheme performance. The wording is negotiated firm-by-firm against the SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions, with any bespoke improvements — aggregation clause treatment, defence costs handling, retroactive date preservation, cyber add-ons — negotiated on the individual submission. The insurer choice is not constrained by a scheme's panel; the broker can go to any qualifying insurer whose current appetite matches the firm's work mix, size and claims profile.

Put another way: scheme placement asks whether the firm fits the scheme. Non-scheme placement asks which insurers in the current market are the best fit for the firm.

Who non-scheme placement fits

Non-scheme placement typically fits firms that fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Sole practitioners — often below the partner minimums or turnover minimums of the larger scheme facilities.
• Two-, three- and four-partner firms whose profile does not match a scheme's target segment.
• Firms with a non-standard work mix — for example, a residential conveyancing bias combined with a small commercial litigation practice, or private client work sitting alongside employment law.
• Firms with historic claims that need explaining to insurers on a considered submission, rather than being shopped through a scheme's standard renewal template.
• Firms with a cross-border or devolved-jurisdiction footprint — offices or practising rights extending into Scotland (LSS), Northern Ireland (LSNI) or the Channel Islands, where the placement needs to be coordinated across jurisdictional regimes.
• Firms seeking specific wording customisation — a particular aggregation clause outcome, a defined retroactive date position on a portfolio takeover, or a cyber and privacy extension coordinated with a separate cyber policy.
• Firms who prefer a named-broker service where the same broker handles the submission, the renewal, the claims notifications and the mid-term amendments, rather than a scheme-scale workflow with a distributed servicing model.

Where non-scheme placement fits less well

Non-scheme placement is not the right answer for every firm. It fits less well in a small number of circumstances:

• Very large firms whose premium sits in the multi-million-pound range, where scheme-scale volume pricing may drive more value than bespoke wording negotiation.
• Firms wanting minimal broker touch at renewal — non-scheme placement requires a fuller file conversation each year, because the firm is priced on its own facts rather than against a scheme benchmark.
• Firms whose profile is a clean match for a scheme's target segment, where the scheme's pre-negotiated terms may be competitive without further customisation.

The right route depends on the firm's specific profile, not on marketing claims. Both scheme and non-scheme brokers operate under the same FCA rulebook, both are subject to COBS 4 and ICOBS, and both work with the same qualifying insurer regime at its core.

The qualifying insurer regime outside schemes

The SRA maintains and publishes the list of participating insurers each indemnity year. To appear on the list, an insurer must be an authorised insurer for UK business and must have signed the Participating Insurers' Agreement, committing to offer policies that meet the SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions. That commitment covers the whole architecture of solicitor PI cover: the £2m minimum limit for unincorporated firms and £3m for incorporated firms, the aggregation basis, defence costs treatment, the continuous cover clause, run-off entitlement on cessation, and the prohibitions on certain exclusions and cancellation grounds. Everything on the SRA list is MTC-compliant by definition.

When a non-scheme broker approaches the market for a firm, the process runs approximately as follows. The broker prepares a submission against the SRA's expected disclosure standard, identifies which qualifying insurers currently have appetite for the firm's work type, size and claims profile, and approaches those insurers on the firm's behalf. Terms come back in parallel. Comparison is not simply on premium; wording differences matter. Insurers vary in how they treat aggregation of related matters, how they handle costs inclusive versus costs in addition to the limit of indemnity, how they set the deductible on defence costs, how they preserve retroactive dates on portfolio transfers and how they extend or restrict the position on cyber-adjacent claims. A meaningful part of the broker's work sits in the wording comparison — not in the premium comparison alone.

The renewal cycle is well established. Firms renew on 1 October each year to align with the SRA indemnity period, with the Extended Policy Period (30 days) and Cessation Period (60 days after the EPP) acting as the safety net if new cover is not in place by the renewal date. Non-scheme brokers typically start the renewal conversation eight to twelve weeks before 1 October and aim to have terms confirmed before September closes.

The submission — what non-scheme placement requires

A non-scheme submission is a more thorough piece of work than a scheme renewal form. The broker is presenting the firm as an individual risk, and insurers price it that way. A well-prepared submission typically includes:

• The completed proposal form on the format required by the target insurer or brokers' common form.
• A five- to six-year claims and circumstances record, with explanatory notes on any matter that needs context.
• A practice description covering fee income split by work type, client mix and geographic footprint.
• CVs of principals and senior fee earners, including years of PQE, area of specialism and any prior firm history.
• A narrative on cyber controls, money-laundering controls and file-supervision practice.
• A complaints record covering the last three years, cross-referenced with the SRA's expectations for regulated firms.
• Recent financial statements or, for LLPs and limited companies, the last filed accounts.
• Any regulatory correspondence or notifications, disclosed proactively rather than surfaced by an insurer's due diligence.

The submission's role is not to sell the firm to the insurer. It is to present the firm fairly and completely, letting the insurer price the risk consistently with the duty of fair presentation under the Insurance Act 2015. Thin or defensive submissions tend to attract the widest quote ranges; complete and clearly-presented submissions tend to attract tighter terms.

What a non-scheme broker actually does

The value of non-scheme placement sits in the work the broker does around the placement, not just at the point of quote. A named broker on a non-scheme placement typically:

• Reviews the firm's file structure and prior submissions before the market approach, identifying anything that needs to be re-presented or explained differently.
• Approaches multiple qualifying insurers in parallel, matched to each insurer's current appetite for the firm's profile.
• Compares terms on wording as well as price, and flags material wording differences to the firm before terms are accepted.
• Negotiates specific improvements where they matter — aggregation treatment for firms with linked-transaction exposure, retroactive date preservation on portfolio takeovers, a cyber extension that dovetails with a standalone cyber policy.
• Handles claim and circumstance notifications during the policy year on the firm's behalf, protecting the firm's position under the continuous cover clause.
• Maintains continuity of the retroactive date across renewals so the firm's historic exposure remains covered even as insurers change.

Continuity matters. A firm that changes broker every few renewals — or is passed between servicing teams inside a scheme — risks losing the institutional memory that keeps the retroactive date, wording and claims narrative aligned. A named-broker relationship on a non-scheme placement is one way of preserving that continuity.

Scheme versus non-scheme — a note on framing

The comparison between scheme and non-scheme placement is often presented as a competition. It is not. Scheme brokers do considered work for firms whose profile fits their scheme. Non-scheme brokers do considered work for firms whose profile does not fit a scheme, or for firms that value bespoke placement over the standardisation a scheme brings. Both routes are FCA-authorised and work with the same qualifying insurer regime. The question is not which route is better in the abstract — it is which fits a specific firm's profile, work mix and claims history.

How Apex helps

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is an FCA-authorised insurance intermediary (firm reference number 724952) with a professions-focused book. Matt Bartlett, the firm's director, holds SMF3, SMF16 and SMF17 approvals and sits at the accountable end of every solicitor placement. Apex operates on a non-scheme basis. Firms are placed on the qualifying insurer market on an individual basis, matched to insurers whose current appetite fits the firm's work mix, size and claims profile. The wording is reviewed against the SRA MTC clause-by-clause, and material improvements are negotiated on the submission itself. The firm publishes ongoing sector-mechanics content across the SRA MTC clauses, the Extended Policy Period, the Cessation Period, the aggregation position and the run-off framework — reflecting the file work the firm does rather than headline claims about the market.

Frequently asked questions

What is non-scheme PI placement for solicitors?

Non-scheme placement is where a broker approaches the SRA qualifying insurer market on the firm's behalf as an individual risk, rather than routing the firm through a pre-negotiated scheme facility with a defined insurer panel. Pricing and wording are determined by the firm's own profile, not by aggregated scheme performance.

How does non-scheme placement differ from scheme placement?

Scheme placement uses a pre-negotiated facility between a large broker and a defined panel of insurers, aimed at a defined segment of the profession — for example, mid-market commercial firms above a certain size. Non-scheme placement approaches the qualifying insurer market firm-by-firm, with wording negotiated on the individual submission and no scheme rate card. Both routes work with SRA MTC-compliant wording.

Is non-scheme placement suitable for a sole practitioner?

Non-scheme placement often fits sole practitioners well, particularly where the firm sits below the partner or turnover thresholds of the larger scheme facilities, or where the firm has a claims history that benefits from a considered submission rather than a standard scheme template. A named-broker relationship also helps sole practitioners with the continuity issues around retroactive date preservation across renewals.

How many qualifying insurers currently write solicitor PI?

The SRA participating insurer list for the 2025/26 indemnity period runs to 52 insurers — the highest number on record. The number actively writing new business at any given time is materially smaller, typically in the range of six to eight for firms with a mainstream work mix. The composition of the active market shifts each October.

Can a non-scheme broker access the same insurers as a scheme broker?

Non-scheme brokers approach qualifying insurers directly on the firm's behalf. Some insurers write both scheme and non-scheme business; others focus on one or the other. A firm is not disadvantaged by non-scheme placement in terms of insurer access — the qualifying insurer list is public and every participating insurer's underwriters are, in principle, open to considered submissions from any FCA-authorised broker.

How does the SRA participating insurer regime work?

Each insurer wishing to write solicitor PI must be an authorised insurer for UK business and must sign the SRA Participating Insurers' Agreement, committing to offer policies that meet the SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions. Once signed, the insurer appears on the SRA participating insurer list. Cover written by an insurer not on the list does not qualify under the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules and would place the firm in breach.

Related reading

• The ultimate UK solicitors PI insurance guide 2026
• SRA MTC — the minimum terms and conditions explained
• PI insurance for sole-practitioner solicitors
• Solicitors PI — the Extended Policy Period decision flowchart
• Scheme broker versus specialist broker — a comparison
• Directly authorised versus appointed representative PI brokers

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952.