Hard-to-place professional indemnity · Adverse credit · UK

Professional indemnity insurance with adverse credit, an IVA or bankruptcy

A discharged bankruptcy, an IVA, or a previous company that went into liquidation will fail most online PI forms. None of them makes a competent professional uninsurable. All of them need disclosing and explaining.

Part of: Non-standard professional indemnity

In short

Insolvency history — a bankruptcy (discharged or not), an IVA, a debt relief order, a CVA, or a previous company that went into liquidation or administration — is a standard question on professional indemnity proposal forms, usually asked about the firm, its principals and any predecessor or associated business, and often with no time limit. It is material under the Insurance Act 2015 and must be disclosed whether or not a form asks. Insurers read it as a signal about financial pressure and about the risk of the firm failing with run-off exposure; the presentation therefore has to explain the cause, the discharge or completion, and the firm’s current financial footing, and be placed with underwriters who assess firms rather than filter them. 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 professionals with insolvency or adverse-credit history 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.

Why insolvency history matters to a PI insurer

An insurer’s worry is not moral. It is that a professional under financial pressure takes on work outside competence, skips checks, or fails to pay the premium; and that a firm which fails leaves claims arriving for six years with nobody to fund run-off. A bankruptcy caused by a personal guarantee on a previous business, discharged years ago, with a firm now trading profitably, answers those worries. A form cannot tell that story. A presentation can.

What you have to disclose, and for how long

Bankruptcy is usually discharged after twelve months, is removed from the Individual Insolvency Register three months after discharge, and stays on your credit file for six years. An ‘ever’ question still catches it; a ‘last six years’ question may not.
IVAs and debt relief orders follow a similar pattern: on the register until completion plus a short period, on the credit file for six years, and caught by an ‘ever’ question.
Company insolvencies — liquidation, administration, a CVA — are asked about in relation to any business you have been a principal of, not just this one. Directors’ disqualification is a separate question and a separate problem.
Your regulator may also need to know. The SRA, ICAEW, RICS, ARB and FCA all have fitness or practising rules that touch insolvency. That is a compliance conversation to have alongside the insurance one, not after it.

Answer the question that is asked, accurately, and volunteer the material fact even where the question is narrow. Under the Insurance Act 2015 the duty is to present the risk fairly, not to find the narrowest truthful answer.

How Apex places professional indemnity with adverse credit

The event on page one, resolved. Cause, date, discharge or completion certificate, and evidence of the firm’s current position: accounts, fee income, working capital.
A written presentation, not a form. The issue is stated plainly, with context and evidence, on page one — insurers respect that and price it better than a ‘yes’ in a box with no explanation.
The right markets, in the right order. Among the 30-plus markets we use, including Lloyd’s, some underwrite non-standard risks as a matter of course and some never will. Approaching everyone at once damages your prospects; we go to the ones that fit.
Terms explained before you bind. Premium, excess, exclusions, retroactive date and payment terms, side by side, with our plain-language view of the trade-offs.
The same named broker afterwards — for the mid-term question, the certificate a client wants, and next year’s renewal, when a clean twelve months will help.

What to have ready

Your current schedule and policy wording, and the expiry date.
The last proposal form or presentation, and any correspondence in which an insurer declined, loaded or non-renewed you.
A short written account of the issue — what happened, when, why, and what has changed since.
Evidence where it exists: a certificate of satisfaction for a CCJ, a discharge certificate, a regulator’s final decision, a claims summary from the insurer.
Fee income for the last three years and a description of the work you do now.
Discharge certificate, IVA completion certificate, or the liquidator’s or administrator’s final report for a previous company.
Your latest accounts, so the underwriter can see the firm as it is now.

What we can and cannot promise

A straight answer within five working days. That is the Non-Standard PI Desk standard: yes, no, or the terms — with the reasons and what would change the answer. How the Desk works.
We cannot guarantee terms. Some risks are uninsurable in the standard market at a given moment, and we would rather tell you that in week one than in the last week before expiry.
Terms may be restricted. A higher premium, a larger excess, an exclusion, or premium payable in full rather than monthly are all common outcomes for non-standard risks. We explain each one before you bind.
Never let existing cover lapse while we work. A gap in claims-made cover can leave past work permanently uninsured.
Full disclosure is non-negotiable. We will not present a risk in a way that hides a material fact. It would not protect you: under the Insurance Act 2015 the insurer could avoid the policy at claim time.

Frequently asked

Can I get professional indemnity insurance after bankruptcy?

In most cases, yes, with full disclosure and the right insurers. A discharged bankruptcy with a clear cause and a firm now on a sound footing is placeable with specialist underwriters. Terms may be loaded and the premium may be payable in full; we tell you plainly.

Do I have to declare a bankruptcy that was discharged years ago?

If the form asks ‘ever’ — and many do — yes. If it asks about a fixed period that has passed, answer accurately, but consider whether the event is still material under the Insurance Act 2015; if in doubt, disclose and explain. Non-disclosure of a material fact is the one outcome that can cost you the whole policy.

A previous company of mine went into liquidation — does that affect my new firm’s PI?

Yes, it needs disclosing: forms ask about any business a principal has been involved in. What matters to the underwriter is why it failed, whether creditors were paid, and whether the new firm is a phoenix of the old one or a different business.

Will an IVA stop me paying my PI premium monthly?

It may. Premium-finance providers credit-check the firm and its principals and can decline. Plan for paying in full and tell us early if that is a constraint.

Does my professional body need to know about my insolvency?

Usually. Most regulators have rules requiring you to report bankruptcy, IVAs and certain company insolvencies, and some attach conditions to practising. Deal with that alongside the insurance, because insurers will ask whether the regulator has been told.

Get a straight answer on PI with an insolvency history

Send us the dates, the discharge or completion evidence, your schedule and your latest accounts. A named Apex broker will tell you plainly whether we can place it and on roughly what terms. 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 about professional indemnity insurance, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.