FCA authorised · FRN 724952 0117 325 0027Quote & buy →
Industrial and product design
If you design physical products for clients, you need professional indemnity insurance. A tolerance that stops parts assembling, a material that fails in use or a shape that infringes someone else’s design can scrap tooling, delay a launch or force a redesign, and the brand will look to its designer for the cost. PI usually covers that financial loss. If you also make or sell products under your own name, you need product liability insurance as well.
Part of: Professional indemnity for designers
In short
Product designers carry the cost of mistakes that surface in tooling, testing or the market. In Great Britain the manufacturer, meaning whoever markets the product under its own name, is responsible for conformity assessment, technical documentation and the UKCA or CE marking, and Great Britain still recognises CE marking for many product types. Brands often pass design responsibility back to you through their contracts. General product safety in Great Britain still rests on the 2005 Regulations, while Northern Ireland has followed the EU General Product Safety Regulation since 13 December 2024. PI covers negligent design and unintentional IP infringement, subject to the policy terms; recall and product liability need separate cover.
Last reviewed 5 October 2026 by the Apex professional indemnity team.
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance usually covers your legal liability when a client loses money because of a negligent error in your professional service. For an industrial or product designer, that service is the concept, the CAD models and drawings, the material and component specification, design-for-manufacture advice and, often, help with testing and technical documentation.
Three policies are easily confused here:
A designer’s largest losses are often in the third category, where nothing has been damaged and nobody has been hurt, but a client has spent heavily on a design that does not work. This page covers physical products. If you design software, apps or digital services, see our page on PI for UX and digital product designers.
The following scenarios are illustrative. They show the type of allegation product designers face, not real claims or outcomes.
In every case the question is whether your work met the standard of a competent product designer, which is the question PI is designed to defend.
Most product regulation is aimed at manufacturers, not designers. It still shapes every claim against you, because your client will measure your design against what it needed to comply.
| Rule | What it says | Why it matters to a designer |
|---|---|---|
| UKCA marking guidance (GOV.UK) | A manufacturer is anyone who manufactures a product, or has it designed or manufactured and markets it in Great Britain under their own name or trademark. The manufacturer carries out conformity assessment, draws up technical documentation and a declaration of conformity, and keeps the documentation, typically for 10 years. | If you design for a brand, the brand is the manufacturer. If you sell under your own name, you are. |
| CE recognition in Great Britain (GOV.UK) | Under the Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment) Regulations 2024, Great Britain continues to recognise the CE marking for many product types, alongside or instead of UKCA. | Clients will expect designs that support whichever route they choose, often both. |
| Designated standards (GOV.UK) | Standards recognised by the UK government give a statutory presumption that a product meets the relevant essential requirements. | Designing away from a designated standard leaves your client to prove compliance another way. |
| General Product Safety Regulations 2005, regulation 5 (Great Britain) | No producer may place a product on the market unless it is a safe product. | Applies to consumer products. The government consulted from 31 March to 23 June 2026 on a new framework, following the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025. |
| EU Regulation 2023/988 (Northern Ireland) | Superseded the 2005 Regulations in Northern Ireland on 13 December 2024. | Products sold in Northern Ireland follow different general safety rules from those in Great Britain. |
| Consumer Protection Act 1987, section 2 | The producer, anyone who holds themselves out as producer by putting their name or trade mark on the product, and the importer are liable for damage caused by a defect. | This is product liability territory. Brands that pay out may then claim from the designer in contract or negligence. |
The most important question for a product designer’s insurance is which side of the manufacturer line you sit on, and whether your contracts quietly move you across it.
When a client markets the product under its own name, it is the manufacturer and carries the regulatory duties. Expect its terms to push risk back to you: a warranty that the design complies with named standards or regulations, an indemnity for any non-compliance, and liability for the cost of recalls. A promise that a design will comply goes further than a promise to use reasonable care and skill, and PI policies often limit cover for that kind of guarantee. Negotiate it down to a reasonable care obligation where you can, and show your insurer anything you cannot change.
Designer-makers, crowdfunded launches and designers who license a range but keep their own branding can become the manufacturer, and under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 the producer or own-brander of a defective product is liable for the damage it causes. At that point you need product liability insurance, and possibly recall cover, alongside PI.
If you write risk assessments, test plans or parts of the technical documentation, errors in them are professional services errors. Manufacturers typically keep that documentation for 10 years after the last product is placed on the market, and a defective-product claim against a producer can be brought up to 10 years after it supplied the product. A designer’s exposure can therefore last as long as the product sells.
Since 1 October 2014, the designer rather than the commissioning client is the first owner of UK design right in a commissioned design, unless the design is made in the course of employment. Brands usually require an assignment. Agree it in writing, and be clear about whether you warrant that the design does not infringe anyone else’s rights, because that warranty is where many IP claims against designers start.
| Usually covered by PI | Often excluded or limited | Needs a different policy |
|---|---|---|
| Negligent design, CAD models, drawings and specifications | The cost of recalling or withdrawing products | Injury or damage caused by products you make or sell (product liability) |
| Design-for-manufacture errors that waste tooling or delay launch, subject to the policy terms | Warranties that a design will pass testing or comply, beyond reasonable care and skill | Recall costs for products you place on the market (product recall cover) |
| Unintentional infringement of design right, registered designs or copyright | Patent infringement, which may be excluded or sub-limited | Damage to prototypes, models and tooling in your care (property cover) |
| Errors in risk assessments and technical documentation you prepare | Aircraft, vehicle safety and medical device work, unless declared and accepted | Your own staff (employers’ liability) |
| Defence costs and expert evidence | Claims brought in the US or Canada, unless the jurisdiction is extended | Stolen design files or a ransomware attack (cyber insurance) |
Cover is subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms. Make sure the business description includes everything you do, especially if you prototype, source suppliers or manage production.
No regulator sets a PI minimum for product designers, so the limit comes from your clients and your largest realistic loss. Brands and manufacturers often state a PI limit in the design agreement, and some ask for product liability too. Base your limit on what a design failure would cost your biggest client: tooling, inventory, retesting and a missed season, not your design fee.
For the difference between the two main covers, see professional indemnity vs product liability. For cover after you stop trading, see run-off cover explained.
A complete proposal gets better terms than a bare one, and a broker can only present what you tell us. Have these ready:
Speak to a broker
PI for product designers, placed by a named broker
Start the online proposal and save it as you go, or leave your number and a named broker will call you back, usually the same working day.
Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker based in Bristol, established in 2009 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are not tied to one insurer: we work with over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates through wholesale brokers, and every client has a named broker who handles the placement, mid-term changes, certificates for clients and the renewal.
Yes, if you design physical products for clients. Design errors usually cause financial loss, such as wasted tooling, failed tests or delayed launches, rather than injury or damage. PI covers your liability for that loss, subject to the policy terms. If you also sell products under your own name, add product liability.
No law requires product designers to hold PI, and there is no regulator of the profession. In practice brands, manufacturers and agencies often require it in design agreements, sometimes with product liability too. The regulatory duties for UKCA and CE marking fall on the manufacturer, but contracts often pass design risk back to you.
Only if the product is marketed in Great Britain under your name or trademark. GOV.UK guidance defines a manufacturer as someone who manufactures a product, or has it designed or manufactured and markets it under their own name. If a brand sells your design under its name, the brand is the manufacturer.
Usually not. Most PI policies exclude or limit the cost of recalling products. If a recall follows your design error, the brand may claim its wider losses from you, and PI may respond to that claim subject to the policy terms, but a brand or designer-maker needing recall cover should buy it separately.
Sometimes. Many PI policies cover unintentional infringement of design right, registered designs and copyright, but patent infringement is often excluded or sub-limited, especially in the US. Ask how your wording treats patents, and keep a record of the searches you ran before the design was finalised.
For UK design right in designs commissioned since 1 October 2014, the designer is the first owner unless the design is made in the course of employment, so a client that wants to own the design needs a written assignment. Put ownership, licences and any non-infringement warranty in the agreement.
Apex arranges professional indemnity insurance for product designers across the UK. Tell us about your work and we’ll find cover that fits. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start your PI proposal Call 0117 325 0027Apex 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. Cover is always subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms, and this page does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
