Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director · Last reviewed 8 July 2026
The renewal invitation has arrived and the numbers do not sit right. Fee income is up but the premium is up further, the wording has quietly narrowed, or you added tax investigation work in the last twelve months and it never made it into the presentation. Accountants change broker at renewal every year for reasons like this, and the mechanics are well established. This entry covers what to expect from the outgoing broker, what the incoming broker needs, and the ICAEW and ACCA continuity points that must not slip in the handover.
Look for observable patterns rather than a gut feeling. The premium moved and the underwriting rationale is not on the file. The wording review was a covering paragraph, not a written analysis of exclusions and extensions. The broker did not ask about the two new partners, the fee-income growth, the R&D tax credit work you started, or the disengagement with a large audit client. The submission went to one insurer’s facility rather than an open-market approach across an accountants’ panel. Renewal terms landed three days before expiry. Any of these can be a one-off. Together they are usually a signal that the file has not been actively broked this year.
Your current broker is required, under ICOBS 2 information duties and the wider FCA client-service framework, to provide the documents and information you need to make an informed renewal decision. The current wording in full, the schedule, the claims record, the renewal invitation and any change in terms since inception all belong to you. Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A) applies where the principal is treated as a consumer of the broking service; the “consumer understanding” and “consumer support” outcomes are the practical hooks. A written request for the file is sufficient. You do not owe an explanation for leaving.
ICAEW-regulated firms sit under Bye-law 61 and the associated PII regulations, with continuity of cover, minimum limit tied to a 2.5× fee-income formula, and a two-year run-off requirement. ACCA practising certificate holders have a parallel PII scheme with its own minimum limit calculation. AAT licensed accountants have a smaller-firm framework. At renewal the update your broker needs is the fee-income figure and any change in service mix — probate work, tax investigation, R&D tax credit advice, insolvency-adjacent work and audit all sit differently on an underwriter’s risk matrix. A material change during the year should have been notified at the point it happened; if it was not, it needs to be disclosed under section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015 when the new broker builds the submission. Run-off availability — two years for ICAEW — should be confirmed with the incoming insurer, not left to renewal-day discovery.
The order matters.
First, do not cancel the current policy until the new one is bound and dated to run from renewal. A claims-made policy needs an unbroken chain. Second, share the current wording, schedule and claims record with the incoming broker in full. Third, the fair-presentation duty under Insurance Act 2015 s.3 continues at renewal and at any material variation — do not shave off a disclosure that feels awkward. Fourth, any circumstance already notified to the outgoing insurer stays with that insurer; the new policy responds to claims made during its own period. Fifth, read the aggregation clause and the definition of “professional services” on the new wording against the outgoing one — a small change in scope can shift how a group of related engagements is treated. Sixth, confirm the retroactive date on the new policy matches the outgoing inception so historic work remains within cover.
A broker doing the work properly on an accountants’ file looks like this. A named broker reads the wording and puts the analysis in writing. The submission is built from the current fee-income figure, the service mix, and the material changes since inception, not last year’s proposal form. The ICAEW or ACCA continuity requirements are treated as an operational constraint, not a footnote. Material variations mid-year are picked up when they happen. When accountants move to Apex Insurance Brokers from another broker, they say the difference is the same broker on the phone, a wording review that engages with the ICAEW Bye-law 61 framework, and a submission that is open-market rather than facility-only. That is the working model, and it is why the retention rate on the accountants’ book runs at 95%.
Renewal at hand?
Send us your current renewal terms and we’ll take a look. A named broker will read every submission and come back within one working day with a proper comparison.