PI requirements · RICS · As at September 2026

Surveyors’ PI insurance requirements: the RICS minimum

If RICS regulates your firm you must hold PII on its approved minimum wording, with a limit banded by turnover. Here is the current requirement, its basis, the excess and run-off rules, and how to judge whether it is enough.

Part of: PI insurance requirements by professional body

In short

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors requires regulated firms to hold PII on its approved minimum wording, with a minimum limit of indemnity banded by the firm’s preceding-year turnover: £250,000 for turnover up to £100,000, £500,000 for £100,001 to £200,000, and £1 million for £200,001 and above. Cover must be each-and-every-claim, or aggregate with unlimited automatic reinstatement. RICS expects firms to hold at least six years’ run-off on cessation. These figures, from the requirements effective 1 July 2025, are the position as at September 2026; verify the current requirement with RICS. Apex is an independent, director-owned broker that places the right band and checks the wording, not just the figure.

What RICS requires

RICS requires the firms it regulates to hold PII meeting its published requirements. The current RICS Professional Indemnity Insurance Requirements took effect on 1 July 2025 and set a minimum limit of indemnity banded by the firm’s turnover in the preceding year:

Firm turnover (preceding year)	Minimum limit of indemnity
£100,000 or less	£250,000
£100,001 to £200,000	£500,000
£200,001 and above	£1,000,000

Every policy must be on a full civil liability basis and use the RICS Approved Minimum Policy Wording (or wording at least as comprehensive). The cover must be written each and every claim, or on an aggregate basis with unlimited automatic reinstatement; a plain aggregate basis is permitted only for specified excluded risks (asbestos, pollution or contamination, and fire safety). For a limit of £10 million or less, the maximum uninsured excess is the greater of 2.5% of the sum insured or £10,000, each and every claim.

Rule and date. RICS Professional Indemnity Insurance Requirements (UK & Republic of Ireland), effective 1 July 2025 — the turnover bands, the approved minimum wording, the basis, and the maximum-excess formula. As at September 2026 — verify the current requirement with RICS (RICS PII requirements), as these requirements change.

Each claim vs aggregate: why the basis matters

Two policies can both say ‘£2 million’ and protect you very differently. The difference is the basis of the limit.

Each and every claim (or ‘any one claim’). The full limit is available for every separate claim, however many you face in a policy year. A firm on a £1 million each-and-every policy is covered for three £1 million claims in the same year.
In the aggregate. The limit is the most the insurer will pay in total across the whole year, added together. On a £1 million aggregate policy, those same three claims exhaust the cover after the first.

RICS lets a firm meet the requirement either each and every claim or on an aggregate basis with unlimited automatic reinstatement, so the cover effectively refills after a claim. A plain aggregate limit without reinstatement is only allowed for the excluded risks RICS lists (asbestos, pollution or contamination, and fire safety).

This is why a firm holding £1 million in the aggregate can still fail a requirement written as ‘£1 million for any one claim’ — the number matches but the basis does not. Read the basis of your requirement, not just the figure, and check whether defence costs sit outside the limit or erode it.

Run-off: cover after you stop

Professional indemnity is written on a claims-made basis: the policy that answers a claim is the one in force when the claim is made or notified, not the one you held when you did the work. So when you stop trading, the cover does not follow your old work automatically — a claim can still arrive years later, and there is no live policy to meet it unless you have bought run-off cover.

RICS expects a firm that ceases to obtain fully retroactive run-off cover and to maintain it for a minimum of six years from cessation. Firms doing high-value valuation work should treat six years as a floor, not a target.

Run-off matters most on retirement, closure, a merger or a change of legal structure. A retroactive date that reaches back over all your past work is what keeps that earlier work covered; if you change insurer or broker, protecting that date is the point to watch.

Is the minimum enough?

A regulatory minimum is a floor, not a recommendation. RICS sets the least cover you may hold and still practise; it does not promise the figure is enough for your work. A single claim on a large contract, a valuation, a set of accounts or a piece of advice can run well past the minimum once the loss and the other side’s legal costs are added.

A valuation dispute can dwarf a small firm’s turnover, so a firm at the bottom of the £250,000 band may still be under-insured for a single instruction — the band is the regulatory floor, not a measure of your exposure.

Judge the limit against your own exposure: the size of the contracts you sign, the value of the work you touch, what your clients and their lenders require in writing, and your claims history. Our minimum-limit calculator and our guide to how much professional indemnity insurance you need walk through that. A broker’s job is to place the right limit, not just the lowest one you are allowed to buy.

How Apex helps you meet it

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 surveyors and valuers 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.

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.

Frequently asked

What is the minimum PI insurance for a RICS-regulated firm?

It depends on your turnover in the preceding year. The RICS minimum limit of indemnity is £250,000 for turnover up to £100,000, £500,000 for £100,001 to £200,000, and £1 million for £200,001 and above, on the RICS approved minimum wording. This is the position as at September 2026; confirm the current band with RICS.

How do I know which turnover band I am in?

RICS bands the minimum by your firm’s turnover in the preceding year. Up to £100,000 turnover the minimum limit is £250,000; from £100,001 to £200,000 it is £500,000; at £200,001 and above it is £1 million. If your turnover moves you into a higher band, the higher minimum applies at your next renewal.

Is the RICS limit per claim or in aggregate?

Either, within limits. RICS allows cover on an each-and-every-claim basis, or on an aggregate basis with unlimited automatic reinstatement so the cover refills after a claim. A plain aggregate limit without reinstatement is only permitted for specified excluded risks — asbestos, pollution or contamination, and fire safety.

Do surveyors need run-off cover, and for how long?

RICS expects a firm that ceases to obtain fully retroactive run-off cover and keep it for a minimum of six years from cessation. Professional indemnity is claims-made, so run-off answers a claim brought after you have stopped. For high-value valuation work, six years is a floor rather than a target.

Is there a cap on my excess?

Yes. For a limit of indemnity of £10 million or less, RICS caps the maximum uninsured excess at the greater of 2.5% of the sum insured or £10,000, each and every claim. Above £10 million there is no set limit. A higher excess lowers premium but leaves more of each claim with you, so weigh it against your cash position.

Is the RICS minimum enough?

It is a floor set by turnover, not a measure of your exposure. A single valuation or survey dispute can far exceed £250,000 or even £1 million once the loss and legal costs are counted, so firms doing high-value work routinely buy more. Our calculator and how-much guide help you size the right limit.

Who checks that my firm complies?

RICS, through its regulatory monitoring. Regulated firms confirm they hold conforming PII and must be able to produce evidence on request; the cover must be on the RICS approved minimum wording from an insurer prepared to meet it. Failing to hold conforming cover is a regulatory breach that RICS can act on.

Check your cover meets the minimum

Send your current schedule and renewal terms. A named Apex broker checks the limit, basis and run-off against your body’s requirement and returns competing quotes set out so you can compare them like for like. 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 requirements, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not set, guarantee or replace the rules of any professional body or regulator. Every requirement shown is the position as at September 2026 against the source linked beside it; these requirements change, so confirm the current rule with the body itself before you rely on it. Apex does not set or enforce any professional body’s minimum.