Professional indemnity broker · Architects · UK

Professional indemnity insurance broker for architects

Professional indemnity for ARB-registered architects and RIBA Chartered Practices — sized to your appointments, not just the ARB floor, and presented by a broker who understands what a fire-safety exclusion does to your cover.

Part of: Professional indemnity insurance at Apex

In short

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 architects and architectural practices 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. For architects that means meeting the ARB minimum, then sizing the limit to your appointments and collateral warranties, checking retroactive dates against past projects, and reading every fire-safety exclusion before you bind.

Who this page is for

ARB-registered architects, RIBA Chartered Practices and CIAT architectural technologists, from sole practitioners to multi-studio practices.
Practices taking principal-designer roles under the Building Safety Act 2022, or working on higher-risk buildings.
Practices whose appointments or collateral warranties now demand £2m, £5m or £10m and whose policy has not caught up.
Architects with cladding, fire-safety or historic-project exposure that their current insurer has excluded or refused.
New practices needing a first policy, and retiring architects needing run-off.

What architects’ PI has to do

Architects are sued late and sued alongside everyone else. A defect surfaces years after completion, the contractor has gone, and the claim lands on the professionals with insurance. The policy therefore has to respond to work done long ago (retroactive date), at a limit matched to the appointment (often far above the ARB minimum), and without an exclusion that removes the exact risk the claim is about.

Since Grenfell, fire-safety and cladding wording has been the single biggest variable in architects’ PI. Some insurers exclude it; some cover it with conditions; some price it in. The Building Safety Act 2022 has added principal-designer duties that insurers now ask about specifically.

Appointments and warranties. Standard-form appointments and collateral warranties specify limits and sometimes basis of cover. We check them against the quote so you are not signing an obligation you cannot meet.
Each-and-every versus aggregate. A £2m aggregate policy is not a £2m each-and-every policy. The difference matters on a busy year.
Net contribution clauses and limitation periods (six years in contract, twelve under a deed) drive how long you need cover after a project — and why run-off is not optional.
Fire-safety exclusions need reading in full. An exclusion drafted for cladding can catch far more than cladding.

The minimum cover ARB requires

ARB requires every registered architect to hold adequate and appropriate professional indemnity insurance, and its guidance sets a minimum limit of £250,000 for any one claim. In practice, appointments, warranties and the scale of the work set the real requirement, and most practices carry £1m or more.

ARB also expects you to think about cover after you stop practising. Because architects are claimed against years after completion, run-off is a plan to make at retirement, not a box to tick.

How Apex places professional indemnity for architects

A short fact-find, not a 40-question form. We ask about your work as architects and architectural practices: 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.

Why architects move their PI to Apex

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.

When it is worth getting a second quote

You have outgrown a professional-body or adviser-network scheme, or an online-only policy, and nobody has re-marketed your risk in years.
A client, lender, framework or regulator now requires a higher limit, a different basis of cover, or evidence your existing broker cannot produce quickly.
Your insurer has non-renewed, withdrawn from your profession, or imposed an exclusion you were not warned about.
Your renewal rose sharply with no explanation, or the person who knew your firm has left, retired, or been absorbed into a consolidator.
You have a claim, a circumstance, a CCJ or something else non-standard, and your current arrangement treats it as a tick-box decline.
Your broker has been bought by a consolidator or a global broker and the independence you chose them for has gone.

None of these needs a falling-out with your current broker. Send us the renewal, we tell you plainly whether you are well placed. If you are, we say so. How switching broker works without a gap in cover →

When we are not the right broker

You want the cheapest possible policy bought online in five minutes with no conversation. An online-only product may suit you better, and we would rather say so than waste your time.
Your regulator or professional body requires you to use one specific scheme with no alternative. That is rare, but where it applies we will tell you.
You are outside the UK, or your firm is effectively a US-domiciled business with a UK office.

Related guides

Frequently asked

Will my PI cover fire-safety and cladding claims?

Only if the wording says so. Some insurers exclude fire safety completely, others cover it subject to conditions, and the exclusion wording varies. We put each quote’s wording in front of you before you decide.

My appointment asks for £5m but I only hold £1m — what do I do?

Either negotiate the appointment down (net contribution and proportionate limits are common asks) or increase the limit, usually with an excess layer. We can price both routes quickly so you can answer the client.

Do you cover principal-designer work under the Building Safety Act?

We place PI for practices taking principal-designer roles; insurers ask specific questions about competence, the type of building and higher-risk building work. Declare it fully and it can be covered; leave it out and a claim can be refused.

Does ARB’s £250,000 minimum mean that is enough?

No. It is a regulatory floor. A single residential project can generate a claim far above it. We size the limit to your appointments and your largest project, not the minimum.

How long do I need run-off cover for?

Claims can arrive six years after a breach in contract and twelve under a deed, and the limitation clock can start later than completion. Most retiring architects arrange six years, and we can quote it alongside your final renewal.

Get your practice’s PI matched to your appointments

Send us your schedule and your largest current appointment. A named Apex broker will tell you whether the limit, wording and exclusions actually match what you have signed up to. Or call 0117 325 0027.

Get an architects’ PI quote → Request a callback

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.