Professional indemnity insurance was written for a UK-facing world of UK courts, UK regulators, and UK contract wording. The moment a UK professional takes on a client in Frankfurt, New York, Dubai, or Sydney, the assumptions behind a standard PI policy start to bend. Territorial wording that reads cleanly on paper can leave gaps in practice. Post-Brexit, the routes UK brokers once had into EU markets are no longer open. This page sets out what changes when your work crosses a border.
UK-based professionals whose day-to-day work involves clients or work products outside the United Kingdom. Solicitors advising on cross-border transactions. Accountants with international clients or overseas subsidiaries. Financial advisers with expat clients. Architects designing overseas developments. Management consultants engaged by US or European groups. Engineers on international projects. IT consultants with SaaS clients abroad.
If any part of the work is performed for a non-UK client, delivered outside the UK, or capable of giving rise to a claim in a non-UK court, the territorial and jurisdictional wording of the PI policy needs to be checked rather than taken for granted.
Three separate questions need answering when work involves international clients, and they are often confused with each other.
The first is jurisdictional cover: where would a claim against you be heard? A US client suing a UK solicitor for advice on a New York transaction may be able to file in a US court under a jurisdiction clause, a long-arm statute, or the law governing the underlying deal. A policy that responds only to claims brought in UK courts will not help.
The second is territorial scope: does your policy respond to work performed outside the UK, and to claims brought outside the UK? These are two limbs of the same clause in most wordings. A common UK PI territorial limit reads "worldwide, except USA and Canada" — the policy responds to work anywhere and claims anywhere, but excludes work performed in the USA or Canada and claims brought in USA or Canadian courts.
The third is wording equivalence: does UK PI actually satisfy the contract you have signed? A US professional services contract may specify "professional liability" cover from an "admitted" insurer with a stated AM Best rating, evidenced by a certificate of insurance in a particular format. Whether the policy can be evidenced in a way that meets the contract is a separate question from whether the underlying cover would respond.
Most UK PI wordings distinguish between the territory in which work is performed and the jurisdiction in which claims are brought. A standard commercial PI schedule often reads "worldwide excluding USA and Canada" for both limbs. That is a broad position, but it excludes the market many UK professionals are most likely to work into.
Extending territorial scope to USA and Canada is available from most PI insurers at a meaningful premium loading. The size depends on the profession, the US work, whether the professional has US-registered qualifications, and whether the work is transactional or advisory. Some insurers will not extend without specific underwriting information about the US client base.
Some wordings split the two limbs — covering work performed anywhere including USA and Canada, but only responding to claims in UK, EU, or Commonwealth jurisdictions. That rarely helps in practice, because the point of US work is usually that the client is in the US and any claim would follow. Both limbs should be checked against your work profile before renewal.
Insurance intermediary passporting between the UK and the EU ended on 31 December 2020. Before that date, UK-authorised brokers could place cover into EU markets under the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment. UK PI brokers can no longer freely offer cover to an EU-based client on UK authorisation alone, and EU brokers cannot offer cover into the UK on EU authorisation.
For UK professionals whose clients are in the EU, the practical position is straightforward. UK professionals remain UK-regulated and continue to buy UK PI. The territorial scope of a standard UK policy typically already extends to work performed for EU clients and to claims brought in EU courts. The change is not in the cover itself but in the market available to place it — the pool of insurers is now the UK and London market, not the wider single-market pool that included EU carriers.
For UK professionals who have set up an EU establishment or joined an EU firm, cover needs to be looked at from the other direction. A UK partner in a Dublin or Amsterdam office is likely to sit under a local PI programme, and the interaction between UK and local cover needs to be documented rather than assumed.
Terminology. "Professional liability" is the US term for "professional indemnity". The product is broadly the same — cover for financial loss caused to a client by an error, omission, or breach of professional duty — but the label difference causes friction in contract review.
Limits. US client contracts often specify limits well above UK regulator floors. A UK solicitor whose SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions require £2m or £3m aggregate may be asked for £5m to £10m per claim on a US transaction. Consultancy agreements with US corporate clients frequently specify $5m or $10m per claim as standard procurement policy.
Admitted paper. Some US contracts specify that PI cover must be placed with a US-admitted insurer — one authorised in the relevant state. Most UK-based cover is non-admitted from the US regulator's perspective. There are workarounds, including surplus lines cover through a fronting arrangement, but the position needs to be identified early rather than at closing.
Certificate of insurance. US contracts often specify the exact format required, including the ACORD form number and the endorsements to be attached. UK insurers can produce certificates for US clients, but the format may need discussion with the insurer's certificate team in advance.
Litigation dynamics. US civil litigation involves extensive discovery, longer timelines, and higher defence costs than UK proceedings. Jury trials can drive settlement pressure upwards. For consumer-facing advisory work, class action exposure is a further consideration a UK-facing professional will rarely have thought about.
The Insurance Distribution Directive affects the broker rather than the client. GDPR compliance is a live issue for advisory work involving personal data, and PI cover needs to respond to data claims — most modern UK wordings do, but not all.
Local mandatory PI regimes vary across EU member states. Some jurisdictions require profession-specific minimum cover for locally regulated professionals. A UK professional practising exclusively from the UK does not usually fall under a foreign regulator's minimum, but if work is delivered through a local establishment or in the name of a local entity, the local regime may bite. Contract language also matters: a German client with governing law in Germany requires the UK PI policy to be checked to confirm it will respond.
Most standard UK PI wordings cover work performed anywhere and claims brought anywhere, subject to the USA/Canada carve-out. That default covers a large amount of international work — Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa — without needing a specific extension.
The points to watch are usually about the local overlay. Some jurisdictions require local PI in addition to UK cover — the UAE for architects and engineers on locally registered projects, for example. Local professional bodies may impose their own minima on locally registered members. Payment mechanisms matter at placement: a claim payment from a UK insurer to a client in a jurisdiction with foreign exchange controls can take longer to reach the client than the settlement suggests.
A UK solicitor advising a US client on English law remains regulated by the SRA and is not thereby subject to a US regulator. Professional obligations — conduct, competence, PI cover — are set by the UK regulator. Where a professional holds dual qualifications (a UK solicitor also admitted in New York, an ICAEW chartered accountant also holding a US CPA), both regimes apply within each respective scope.
Certificate requirements, by contrast, tend to follow the client's regulator or contract. A US corporate client may require a certificate under its own procurement rules regardless of who is regulated where. The client's requirements sit alongside, not instead of, the UK regulator's minimum.
"PI insurance from a UK-authorised insurer with an A rating or above." Most main-market UK PI insurers meet the A-rating threshold; usually satisfied by the standard placement.
"PI insurance with a combined single limit of £5m per claim and in the aggregate." Above the regulator floor for many UK professions and may require an increase. Whether the increase is on a per-claim or aggregate basis matters for cost and how the cover responds over the policy year.
"PI insurance with a USA/Canada territorial extension." Arranged with the insurer and evidenced in the schedule; may add a material premium loading.
"Named additional insured." Common in US construction and consultancy contracts, asking the professional's PI insurer to name the client as an additional insured. UK insurers usually decline. Alternative wording — often a waiver of subrogation together with a contractual undertaking to notify the client of claims — can sometimes satisfy the intent.
"Waiver of subrogation against the client." Often available from UK insurers, sometimes at a loading, sometimes at no cost. Prevents the insurer from pursuing the client after paying a claim.
Cross-border PI placement is where broker involvement shifts from processing to structuring. Sizing the limit against actual contract obligations rather than the regulator floor. Arranging territorial and jurisdictional extension where the standard scope does not respond. Producing a certificate in the format the client requires, and re-issuing it as engagement scope changes. Reviewing contract wording against policy terms — flagging where a signed clause creates a gap between what the client has been promised and what the policy would respond to. Continuity across insurer changes matters more than in a UK-only book: cross-border programmes accumulate endorsements, certificates, and territorial extensions that need to carry across at renewal.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is an FCA-authorised broker (FRN 724952) with a professional indemnity book covering UK professionals across the sectors above. Placements include USA/Canada territorial extensions, EU-facing UK professionals under UK cover, and rest-of-world territorial cover for UK-based advisers on international projects. The firm is director-led — Matthew Bartlett holds SMF3, SMF16, and SMF17 approvals — and every placement is reviewed against the specific contract obligations of the professional's client base.
A standard UK PI wording usually excludes USA and Canada from its territorial scope. Work for US clients often falls outside the standard cover unless a USA/Canada territorial extension has been arranged. Whether one is needed depends on where the work is performed, where the client sits, and where a claim could realistically be brought.
The insurance product itself did not change. UK PI wordings still cover work performed for EU clients and claims brought in EU courts under the standard "worldwide except USA/Canada" position. What changed is the passporting regime — UK-authorised brokers can no longer place cover into EU markets under EU freedoms, and vice versa.
Some US contracts specify admitted paper — cover from an insurer authorised in the relevant state. Most UK PI is non-admitted from the US perspective. Where an admitted-paper requirement is in the contract, it needs to be raised early, either to negotiate the clause or to arrange fronting through a US-admitted carrier.
Territorial scope is about where the work is performed. Jurisdictional cover is about where a claim can be heard. A UK consultant performing work for a US client from a laptop in London is performing work in the UK, but a claim by that client could be brought in a US court. Both limbs need to line up with the reality of the engagement.
The two terms describe the same product. "Professional indemnity" is the UK label; "professional liability" is the US label. A UK PI policy usually satisfies a US client's request, subject to any admitted-paper or format clauses.
Regulator minimums are set for UK-regulated work and are not adjusted upwards because a client is international. Client contracts often specify limits above the regulator floor — £5m to £10m per claim is common in US and multinational procurement. The right level is the higher of the regulator floor and the specific contract requirement.
Professional liability insurance: the UK view — terminology and product equivalence.
The ultimate UK solicitors PI guide 2026 — the SRA Minimum Terms and cross-border interaction.
Aggregation clauses by regulator — multiple claims from a single cause across UK regimes.
Insurance Act 2015 and the duty of fair presentation — disclosure at placement and renewal.
Retroactive date in PI insurance — continuity between insurers.
Consumer versus commercial PI insurance — regulatory treatment of consumer-facing and commercial work.
Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952.