Ten essential questions to ask when buying PI insurance
This page lists the ten questions every UK professional firm should ask before binding a PI insurance policy.
The ten questions
- 1. What is the cover limit and is it per claim, aggregate, or both?
- 2. Are defence costs inside the limit or in addition?
- 3. What is the retro-date on this policy?
- 4. What excess applies, and is it per claim or per aggregation?
- 5. What aggregation clause applies, and to what triggers?
- 6. Are there specific activities excluded from cover?
- 7. What run-off cover would apply if the firm ceases trading?
- 8. What is the notification-of-circumstance provision?
- 9. Who is the insurer and what is their rating?
- 10. What broker commission is embedded in this quote?
Why each question matters
- Cover-limit structure — determines aggregation exposure.
- Defence costs — determines effective damages ceiling.
- Retro-date — determines coverage of prior work.
- Excess — determines the firm's per-claim liability floor.
- Aggregation — multiplies single-loss risk across multiple related events.
- Exclusions — may leave specific work uncovered.
- Run-off — determines tail protection.
- Notification — determines timing rules for coverage protection.
- Insurer — determines counterparty solvency and long-term reliability.
- Commission — Consumer Duty transparency.
Frequently asked
What's the first question I should ask?
Do brokers typically answer all these questions?
Should I get answers in writing?
What if the insurer won't share the wording before I sign?
Are there sector-specific questions I should also ask?
Should I check the insurer's rating?
What about the excess?
Should I get multiple quotes?
Related reading
- Questions to ask a PI broker
- PI insurance quote questions
- How to compare PI brokers
- PI broker fees and commissions explained
What might your PI premium look like?
A guideline range built from the premiums insurers have actually quoted on risks we handle. Pick your profession and enter a few details — it updates instantly.
Choose your profession and enter your fee income to see a guideline range.
How these figures are produced
This guide is built from Apex's own market data: the premiums insurers have actually quoted and charged on professional indemnity risks we have handled. Each night that data is aggregated into anonymised rate bands by profession, fee income and limit of indemnity. No client information is published — a band only appears where it contains at least five separate records, and unusually high premiums are excluded so a single atypical risk cannot distort the guide.
The range shown spans the typical spread of recent market outcomes for similar risks. Individual quotes can fall outside it in either direction. Figures exclude insurance premium tax at 12%.
This calculator is not a quote and is not an offer of insurance or advice. Your actual premium depends on full underwriting of your business, including your activities, claims record and insurer appetite at the time.