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Cross-border work
If your business is registered in the UK and most of your clients are UK firms, you can usually buy UK professional indemnity insurance while you live in Australia, the UAE, Spain or anywhere else. Insurers look less at where you live than at where the business is established, who does the work and where, where your clients and contracts sit, and where a claim would be brought. Answer those clearly and more insurers will consider it.
Part of: Cross-border PI for UK professionals with international clients
In short
A UK-registered company or sole trader serving mainly UK clients can usually buy PI in the UK market while its owner lives abroad, subject to the insurer’s acceptance. Underwriters focus on the business’s establishment, who does the work and from where, the law and courts in client contracts, and the policy’s territorial and jurisdiction limits. For Insurance Premium Tax, UK law locates a business risk at the policyholder’s establishment connected to the contract, so a permanent office abroad is something to disclose. If you support FCA-authorised firms, they keep their regulatory responsibility; your PI answers your liability to them.
Last reviewed 6 October 2026 by the Apex professional indemnity team.
Usually, yes. A UK policy insures the business, not the home address of the person running it. A UK company with UK clients and contracts under English law looks familiar to a UK underwriter, even when its director answers emails from Perth or Dubai. What changes is the number of questions, and which insurers will answer them.
Underwriters look at six things:
| Factor | What the underwriter wants to know | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Registration and establishment | Company number, registered office, and any office, staff or registration outside the UK | Points to where the risk is located (see below) |
| Where the work is done, and by whom | You alone from abroad, UK-based staff, or subcontractors in other countries | Work done abroad must fall within the policy territory |
| Where the clients are | Fee income by client country | Overseas clients can sue in their own courts |
| Governing law of your contracts | English, Scots or Northern Irish law, or a foreign law | Some wordings only respond to liability under UK law |
| Jurisdiction clause | Which courts settle a dispute | Cover is often limited to UK courts |
| Territorial limits | Where your activities must take place to be covered | “Activities in the United Kingdom” may not include your desk in Spain |
The last two catch people out. If you work from another country, ask for the territory to include it in writing. See our guide to territorial and jurisdiction limits.
This differs from UK professionals working abroad: here the business and its clients stay in the UK, and only the owner has moved.
Where a risk is located decides which country’s insurance tax applies, and often whose insurance rules apply too. For a business, UK law looks at its establishment, not where the owner lives.
For Insurance Premium Tax, Finance Act 1994, Schedule 7A, paragraph 8 places a risk that is not a building, a vehicle or a short trip in “the country or territory in which the establishment of the policyholder to which the contract relates is situated on the date on which the contract is entered into”. “Establishment” means the policyholder’s head office, an agency or branch, or any permanent presence, such as an office managed by its staff.
For a company whose only base is in the UK, that is usually clear. It is less clear when the company is really run from a permanent home office abroad, which may look like a permanent presence there. Other countries have their own rules, and some expect a locally licensed insurer.
No single rule fits every country, so expect your broker to ask:
If the answers point to a risk outside the UK, cover may need a different insurer or a local policy alongside. Raise it at the start.
If you support FCA-authorised firms, for example paraplanning or research for financial advisers, separate two liabilities.
The adviser’s regulatory liability. The authorised firm holds the permission and answers to its clients and the FCA for the advice. The FCA Handbook says a firm (other than a common platform firm) that outsources critical or important operational functions, or any relevant services and activities, “remains fully responsible for discharging all of its obligations under the regulatory system” (SYSC 8.1.6R). Personal investment firms must also “take out and maintain at all times professional indemnity insurance” under IPRU-INV 13.1.5R.
Your liability to the adviser. If your research missed something or a deadline slipped, the advice firm may compensate its client and then pursue you for breach of contract or negligence. Your own PI is usually bought to answer that claim, and advice firms often ask for evidence of it before signing.
Two checks matter. Be sure your business is not itself carrying on a regulated activity; if unsure, take advice. And make the policy’s business description match what you do. Insurers often treat “financial services” very differently from “research and administrative support to authorised advisers”, and some PI wordings exclude financial advice altogether.
The examples below are illustrative. They show the kinds of allegation a UK business run from overseas can face; they are not real claims.
Registered office. Under section 9 of the Companies Act 2006, an application to register a company must state whether its registered office is to be in England and Wales (or in Wales), in Scotland or in Northern Ireland. Section 86 requires the company to keep its registered office at an “appropriate address” at all times: one where documents would be expected to come to the attention of someone acting for the company, and where delivery can be acknowledged. From abroad that usually means someone in the UK handling your post, such as your accountant. An unopened claim letter matters, because PI policies usually require prompt notice.
Identity verification. Companies House identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025, starting a 12-month transition period. New companies give each director’s Companies House personal code when they register; existing directors give theirs with the company’s next confirmation statement. GOV.UK guidance accepts a biometric passport from any country in the GOV.UK One Login app, or you can ask an Authorised Corporate Service Provider, such as an accountant, to verify you.
Data. UK GDPR applies to your processing of UK clients’ personal data wherever you sit. The ICO’s guidance says staff of a UK company who access its UK systems from outside the UK are not making a restricted transfer, because they are part of the same legal entity, but you “must put in place appropriate security measures” while they are abroad. Sending data to a separate business abroad, such as a subcontractor, can be a restricted transfer. Many PI policies limit data breach cover, so ask about cyber cover.
Time zones. Working hours apart from clients means deadlines get converted wrongly and nobody answers at 9am in London. Underwriters often ask who covers for you.
| Usually covered by PI | Often excluded or limited | Needs a different policy |
|---|---|---|
| Negligent research, reports and calculations delivered to UK clients | Work done, or claims brought, outside the stated territory and jurisdiction | Data breach response, extortion and system restoration (cyber) |
| Breach of professional duty under a contract with a UK client | Claims under contracts governed by a foreign law, unless agreed in advance | Claims against you personally as a director (directors’ and officers’ liability) |
| Losses from a missed deadline caused by an error or oversight | Claims brought in the USA or Canada | Equipment and home office contents abroad (local property cover) |
| Breach of confidentiality, often as a policy extension | Fines, penalties and regulatory sanctions, which wordings commonly exclude | Injury to visitors at UK premises (public liability) |
| Defence costs, subject to the policy terms | Regulated activity or financial advice, unless declared and accepted | Staff injury, under the rules of the country where they work (employers’ liability or a local equivalent) |
Cover is subject to the policy terms. The business description and territory clause together decide whether work done abroad is in.
Limits. For a support business, client contracts usually set the limit. Ask for two or three options and check whether each is per claim or aggregate: see aggregate vs each and every claim limits.
Retroactive cover. PI is written on a claims-made basis: the policy in force when the claim is made responds, provided the work was done after the retroactive date. A first policy often starts its retroactive date on day one; some insurers will agree an earlier date if there are no known claims or circumstances. See claims-made versus occurrence cover.
Moving abroad, or moving back. Under section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015 you must make a fair presentation of the risk before the contract is entered into, and section 2(2) applies the same duty to a variation of the contract, read as the changes in the risk relevant to it. Many policies also require you to report material changes mid-term. Moving the person who does the work abroad, or back, is that kind of change: tell the insurer when it happens.
Closing. If you wind up the UK company or move the work into a local business, run-off cover keeps past work protected.
An enquiry covering these points can usually go straight to insurers:
Trading as a sole trader? See our sole trader PI guide.
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 UK businesses run from abroad, 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.
Usually, yes, if the business is registered in the UK and serves mainly UK clients. Insurers look at the business’s establishment, where the work is done, where clients are based and which law governs your contracts. Check the territorial limit includes the country you work from. Cover is always subject to the insurer’s acceptance.
Not as a general rule. Some regulated firms must hold PI; personal investment firms, for example, under the FCA’s IPRU-INV 13.1.5R. That duty sits with the authorised firm, not its outside suppliers. For a support business run from abroad, the requirement usually comes from client contracts, which often set a minimum limit and ask for evidence before work starts.
Some will, but not every insurer. A director overseas is acceptable to some insurers when the company is UK-registered, its clients are in the UK and its contracts are under UK law; others decline or add conditions. Presenting the full picture at once, including who checks the work and how the time difference is handled, widens the choice.
Only if the policy territory includes that country. Many UK wordings define where your activities must take place as well as where claims can be brought. If you work from Spain or the UAE, ask for the territory to include it in writing.
Tell your insurer, through your broker, as soon as the move is planned. Many PI policies require you to report material changes, and the Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation applies at renewal and on any variation.
Sometimes. A first PI policy often starts its retroactive date at inception, so earlier work is not covered. Some insurers will agree an earlier date if there are no known claims, complaints or circumstances. If you already hold PI, keep your existing retroactive date when you switch.
Apex arranges professional indemnity insurance for UK businesses whose owners live abroad. Tell us where you are, where your clients are and what you do, and we’ll look for 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.
