Commercial insurance in the UK covers the property, liability, people and financial exposures a business carries as a going concern. For a professional firm those exposures usually sit alongside a separate professional indemnity policy; for a mixed trading business the commercial programme is often the primary cover. Apex Insurance Brokers arranges both.
What commercial insurance covers
The phrase “commercial insurance” is a bracket, not a single product. A typical UK commercial programme is a stack of separate covers arranged either as a combined policy or as individual sections placed with different insurers. The core building blocks are property damage, business interruption, employers’ liability, public and products liability, and money. Businesses that own or use vehicles add motor. Businesses that hold personal data or run online services add cyber. Firms that give advice or produce deliverables add professional indemnity.
Employers’ liability is compulsory under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 for almost every UK employer, at a statutory minimum of £5 million (most insurers write £10 million as standard). Motor is compulsory where a vehicle is used on a road under the Road Traffic Act 1988. Beyond those two, cover is a matter of contract with the insurer and of what the business actually needs.
What professional firms need to think about
A solicitor, architect, surveyor or accountant will usually carry a regulated professional indemnity policy that responds to advice-and-service claims. Around that sits a smaller commercial programme covering the office, the staff, the visitors and the contents. The two programmes are complementary but distinct: a spilled coffee on a client’s laptop is a public liability claim; a missed limitation date is a PI claim. Getting them arranged with the right insurer for each risk matters more than getting a single combined package that does neither part well.
For clients whose regulator prescribes minimum terms — solicitors under the SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions, for instance — the PI wording has to comply with the regulator’s rules. The rest of the commercial programme has no such prescription; it is placed on ordinary commercial wordings and it is the broker’s job to make sure the covers, limits and exclusions match what the firm actually does.
The main covers we arrange
Apex Insurance Brokers arranges the following core commercial classes for professional firms and small to mid-sized businesses across the UK:
- Office and contents — buildings (if you own), contents, business equipment, portable equipment, tenants’ improvements.
- Business interruption — loss of gross profit or gross revenue, additional cost of working, denial of access.
- Employers’ liability — statutory cover for injury to staff, contractors and labour-only subcontractors.
- Public and products liability — third-party injury and property damage on your premises or arising from goods you supply.
- Cyber — first-party incident response, business interruption from a cyber event, third-party privacy liability, ransomware. See our UK commercial cyber hub.
- Directors’ and officers’ liability — personal liability of directors for management decisions.
- Crime and fidelity — employee dishonesty, third-party fraud, wire-transfer fraud.
- Fleet and commercial motor — company cars, vans, HGVs, courtesy and demonstrator vehicles.
- Professional indemnity — advice, design or service failures resulting in third-party financial loss.
Combined vs standalone
A combined commercial policy bundles several classes into one contract with one insurer. It can be efficient for straightforward risks — a small office, single site, low-headcount, no unusual exposures. For larger or more specialist risks it is often better to place the classes separately with insurers that specialise in each: a professional indemnity insurer for the PI, a specialist cyber carrier for the cyber, a property-and-casualty insurer for the office and liability. Combined policies save admin; standalone placements often improve cover and pricing at renewal. The right approach depends on the risk. We work through it with each client at inception.
How Apex works with commercial clients
Every commercial account at Apex is handled by a named broker who owns the placement from the first enquiry through renewal and any claim in between. We are directly authorised by the FCA (FRN 724952), not an appointed representative, which means we contract with insurers in our own name and take responsibility for the placement. We are independent and not tied to any insurer or scheme.
Our commercial book runs alongside a substantial professional indemnity book, so we understand how the two programmes interact when a firm has both. Where we cannot place a risk on terms we consider fair for the client, we say so.
Reading further
For a fuller treatment of specific commercial classes and sector scenarios see the commercial overview, the commercial scenarios library, the commercial cyber broker guide, and the consumer vs commercial PI comparison.
Next step
To speak to a broker about your commercial programme, call 0117 325 0027, email info@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk, or use the quote form. We will come back with a call to understand the business before quoting.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952.