Switching PI · Updated 6 September 2026

Outgrown PolicyBee for professional indemnity? What an independent broker does differently

PolicyBee calls itself a specialist business insurance broker and sells professional indemnity online in under two minutes with cover up to £10 million; this page is for firms whose contract, regulator, history or activities now need more than that journey is built to give.

Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex

In short

PolicyBee is an FCA-authorised online broker that calls itself “a specialist business insurance broker” and sells professional indemnity “from £8.14 a month for £100,000 cover” (an IT services business with income up to £25,000, including IPT), with “up to £10,000,000 cover” and a quote “in less than 2 minutes”. It suits freelancers and small businesses in the occupations it lists. Firms typically look elsewhere when a contract demands terms the online product does not offer, a regulator requires a particular insurer or wording, there has been a claim, circumstance or CCJ, the business does several different things, the premium has risen sharply, or they want a named person and a named insurer. Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent, director-owned PI specialist with access to over 30 markets including Lloyd’s, usually returning three or four competing quotes.

What PolicyBee offers, from its own website

From PolicyBee’s professional indemnity page, checked on 6 September 2026:

“Professional indemnity from £8.14 a month for £100,000 cover”, “Based on a quote for IT services with an annual income of up to £25,000. All prices include IPT at 12%.”
“We offer up to £10,000,000 cover” — one of the higher online limits published by any provider on this site.
“Quote online in less than 2 minutes”; “You’ll be able to select your occupation from among the hundreds we cover”; phone 0345 561 0320, Mon–Fri 9am–5pm.
On why buy from PolicyBee: “Because we’re a specialist business insurance broker with the know-how to get you a professional indemnity insurance policy that’s the right fit for your business, quickly and easily.”
It names ICAEW, ARB, RICS and the FRC as bodies that require PI as a condition of membership or certification, and explains that PI is claims-made: “your policy has to be up and running both when a mistake is made, and when a claim comes in”.
“Rated 4.8/5 based on 6,350 reviews” (Feefo). The PI page does not name the insurer or insurers behind the policies.
PolicyBee Ltd is an insurance intermediary authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Who it suits well: freelancers, contractors and small businesses in the occupations it lists, including some that need a higher limit than most online journeys allow.

When firms typically look beyond PolicyBee

None of these means PolicyBee has done anything wrong. They are the points at which a firm’s needs move past what an online journey is built for.

A contract demands terms the online product does not offer. PolicyBee’s limit goes to £10 million online, which covers most contracts; what an online journey cannot do is negotiate an unusual indemnity clause, a named additional insured, a specific jurisdiction or a costs-in-addition basis with an underwriter.
A regulator requires a particular insurer or wording. PolicyBee names ICAEW, ARB, RICS and the FRC as bodies that require PI. SRA firms need a participating insurer on the SRA minimum terms; RICS firms a listed insurer on the RICS wording; ICAEW firms a participating insurer; advisers FCA-compliant limits. Whoever sells the policy, check it against the regulator’s wording.
A claim, a notified circumstance or a CCJ. With a history, the difference between a decline and a placement is usually how the risk is presented, and to how many insurers.
Several activities under one roof. Picking one occupation from hundreds works when you are one occupation. A firm that is two or three needs a wording written to all of them.
A sharp premium rise, or no re-market for years. If no insurer other than the one on your schedule has ever seen the risk, you cannot know whether the price is fair.
You want a named person and a named insurer. PolicyBee publishes phone hours; its PI page does not name its insurers. Some firms want both known from day one.

What changes with an independent specialist

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 freelancers, small consultancies and growing 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.

What that means in practice:

Owned by its directors, not for sale. No consolidator, no private-equity owner, no external shareholders — and we have declined approaches to buy the firm. Read the Apex Independence Charter.
Independent, not tied. No single-insurer scheme, no in-house policy, no placement quotas — the recommendation is the one that fits, not the one we are paid to push.
Over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s. Specialist UK PI insurers and Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale, so a risk that one underwriter dislikes can still be placed properly with another.
Usually three or four competing quotes, laid out side by side — limit, excess, retroactive date, exclusions and premium — with a plain-language note on the trade-offs.
The stay-put letter. If your existing cover is right, we say so in writing, free and without obligation. How the stay-put letter works.
A named broker all year. The person who places your cover is the person who picks up the phone at renewal, on a mid-term change, or when a letter of claim lands.
Director-level attention on claims. We help you notify circumstances early and in the right form, stay involved once the insurer’s panel solicitors are appointed, and tell you plainly where you stand.
Directly authorised by the FCA since 2016, not an appointed representative trading under someone else’s permissions.

How a placement runs:

A short fact-find, not a 40-question form. We ask about your work as a professional firm: what you do, who for, fee income, staff, contracts, claims and anything unusual.
A written presentation to insurers. Under the Insurance Act 2015 you have a duty of fair presentation. We help you meet it — and a well-presented risk gets better terms than a bare proposal form.
Quotes set out to compare. Usually three or four, with limits, excesses, retroactive dates, exclusions and premium side by side, and our recommendation in plain English.
No gap in cover. If you are moving from another broker, insurer or scheme, we put the new policy in place before the old one lapses and check the retroactive date protects your past work.
The same person afterwards. Mid-term changes, contract queries, certificates for clients, circumstance notifications and next year’s renewal all go through your named broker.

How to move without a gap in cover

Professional indemnity is claims-made: the policy in force on the day a claim is made responds, and only for work done after its retroactive date. Moving insurer is safe if these things happen in order.

Notify known circumstances first. Anything you already know about that could lead to a claim belongs with the outgoing insurer; a new policy will exclude it (Hiscox’s PI page, for one, excludes “Anything you knew, or should reasonably have known, before taking out your policy that would likely lead to a claim or a loss”).
Carry the retroactive date across. The new schedule must show a retroactive date no later than the one you hold now, ideally the date you first held continuous cover; otherwise work done in between is uninsured.
No lapse. The new policy goes on risk before the old one ends: at renewal, terms bound before expiry; mid-term, the old policy cancelled under its own terms only once the replacement is in force.
Make a fair presentation. Under the Insurance Act 2015 you must disclose every material circumstance you know or ought to know; a written presentation is how a broker earns better terms than a form.
Plan for run-off. If you later close or merge, run-off cover keeps past work insured; ask how the new insurer prices it before you move.

When to stay with PolicyBee

Stay with PolicyBee if your occupation is on its list, the limit and wording meet your contracts and regulator, your history is clean and the price is fair for the risk. A £10 million online limit, a two-minute quote, published phone hours and a price that includes IPT are genuine advantages for a standard small business, and a specialist broker adds a conversation that a straightforward risk does not need.

If your existing cover is right, we say so in a stay-put letter, free and without obligation.

Related Apex pages

Sources checked 6 September 2026

PolicyBee — professional indemnity insurance

Frequently asked

Is it cheaper to buy PI through a broker than from PolicyBee?

Sometimes, and sometimes not; anyone who promises otherwise has not seen your risk. A broker’s value is in reaching insurers that do not sell online, presenting the risk properly, and showing three or four quotes with limits, excesses, retroactive dates and exclusions side by side. Where the online policy is the best fit at the best price, we tell you so in writing.

Will my premium go up if I move?

Not because you moved. Premium follows the risk: activities, fee income, limit, excess, claims history and the insurer’s appetite. A firm that has outgrown an online product has usually grown, taken on bigger contracts or acquired a history, and that, not the change of channel, moves the price. Insurance Premium Tax at 12% applies to any premium, whoever arranges it.

Can I keep my retroactive date?

Yes, and you must. The new policy’s retroactive date should be no later than the one on your current schedule, so that every piece of work done since you first held continuous cover stays insured. We check the new schedule against your existing one before anything is bound, and we will not place a policy that shortens it without telling you plainly what that means.

Do I need to tell PolicyBee I am leaving?

Read your policy documents and any renewal notice from PolicyBee: they set out what happens at expiry and on cancellation, including any refund on a mid-term cancellation. Before you leave, notify the outgoing insurer of any circumstance you are aware of that could become a claim, because a new policy will exclude it. We prepare that notification with you as part of the move.

Can I switch mid-term or only at renewal?

Either. Renewal is simplest because the old policy ends naturally. Mid-term works where there is a reason, such as a contract that demands a higher limit or a wording your current policy cannot provide; the new policy goes on risk first and the old one is then cancelled under its own terms, which may or may not return premium. Nothing is cancelled until the replacement is bound.

Will Apex quote the same insurer as PolicyBee?

We cannot say in advance, because PolicyBee’s PI page does not name the insurers behind its policies. Your schedule will. Send it to us and we will tell you whether the insurer named on it is one of the markets we can approach, and whether it is worth approaching again alongside others. Either way you get three or four quotes with the insurer, wording, limit, excess and retroactive date stated on each.

What if I have had a claim, a circumstance or a CCJ?

Say so at the start. Our Non-Standard PI Desk deals with claims, notified circumstances, CCJs, declines and regulator findings and gives one of three answers within five working days of having the documents: yes with indicative terms, yes with restrictions explained, or no with the reasons and what would change them.

How long does a move take?

It depends on the risk and on how close you are to renewal. A firm with its last schedule, a claims summary and fee figures to hand can usually be presented to insurers quickly; regulated or non-standard risks take longer because insurers ask more. We publish no turnaround promise for standard risks; for non-standard ones the desk commits to five working days.

Send us your PolicyBee schedule and we will tell you where you stand

A named broker checks the insurer, limit, retroactive date and exclusions against your contracts and regulator, then either re-markets the risk or tells you in writing to stay put. 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, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms. Statements about other providers were taken from those providers’ own websites on 6 September 2026 and may have changed since; any prices are the starting prices they publish, on the basis they state, not typical premiums and not quotes. Provider names are the trade marks of their owners and are used only to identify them; no provider named has endorsed this page. Apex publishes no premium figures of its own on this page.