What is professional indemnity insurance?

Professional indemnity insurance can help protect your business if a client claims there's a problem with the work you’ve done for them. It can cover your costs if you need to pay compensation to correct a mistake or settle a claim, and can also cover your legal defence.

Even though you may strive to deliver an impeccable service, mistakes do happen. A PI insurance policy is designed to protect you against the cost of dealing with a claim from a disgruntled customer. Whether that’s due to a project overrunning or strategic advice that ends up losing a client money, it’s important to ensure you’re covered should an error occur.

For example, you may be faced with paying compensation to a client if they make a claim of:

  • negligence – being careless in your work, such as giving bad advice or making a mistake
  • infringement of intellectual property rights – for example re-using content from a website without permission
  • defamation – making false or damaging claims about a person or organisation
  • breach of confidence – sharing confidential or commercially sensitive information without consent.

Find the right professional indemnity insurance policy for your profession to make sure you’re covered against the risks your business is most likely to face.

You may need professional indemnity insurance if you:

  • provide expertise, skills or advice to clients
  • have access to clients' confidential information
  • produce materials that could infringe intellectual property rights
  • provide a professional service and could be challenged on your work.

You’re good at what you do and have confidence in the quality of your work. So why do you need professional indemnity insurance? The reality is that any small business providing a professional service that can be challenged is vulnerable to a claim of negligence when the advice or service fails to meet a client’s expectations. From allegations of a breach of copyright to accusations of defamation, these kinds of claims can be costly and disruptive regardless of whether they’re fair or not.

Telephone enquiry number
Call on 0800 2800 354
Telephone enquiry hours
Mon - Fri, 9am to 5pm, Sat, 9am to 2pm excluding bank holidays.

Why choose Hiscox Professional Indemnity Insurance?

  • Specialist knowledge: we offer industry-specific policies to suit the risks you face
  • Flexible policies: select from a range of cover levels to get the protection you need
  • Interest free: pay your premium by interest free Direct Debits
  • No administration fees: amend your policy as your needs change
  • Get a quote in minutes: online or by phone

Save 5% on your policy

  • Award-winning claims service
  • Immediate coverage and documentation
  • No admin fees if you amend your policy

Need more help? Speak to our UK-based experts. Call us on 0800 280 0354

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm, Sat, 9am to 2pm, excluding bank holidays. Calls are free from a landline and some mobile contracts

How does it work?

Here are some examples of how you might make a claim and what your insurance may cover:

  • A client made some business changes based on advice you gave them. The changes didn’t bring the benefits they expected and cost them money. So they make a claim against you for compensation. Professional indemnity insurance would cover the claim for compensation plus the costs of defending or settling the claim.
  • You included a case study about a former client in a presentation at a conference. Afterwards that former client makes a claim against you for defamation, alleging that you made a false statement about them, and demands you pay compensation. Professional indemnity insurance would cover the compensation payable plus your legal defence costs.

The amount paid out by Hiscox will be dependent on the level of cover you select.

How much does professional indemnity insurance cost?

Our professional indemnity cover can be tailored to a wide range of professions, so it’s likely we’ll already understand the most common risks your business could face. But we’ll still need you to tell us a bit about your business, like when you started trading, how many employees you have and what your turnover is. By filling out a few simple details you can get a quote specific to your business requirements in a matter of minutes.

How much professional indemnity cover do I need?

To work out how much you’ll need, it’s worth thinking about the risks your business could face and the maximum amount you’d need to pay out in legal fees and compensation in a worst-case scenario. Hiscox professional indemnity insurance lets you choose from a range of cover limits so you can get protection suited to your business.

Save 5% on your policy

  • Award-winning claims service
  • Immediate coverage and documentation
  • No admin fees if you amend your policy

Need more help? Speak to our UK-based experts. Call us on 0800 280 0354

Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm, Sat, 9am to 2pm, excluding bank holidays. Calls are free from a landline and some mobile contracts

Professional indemnity insurance cover information

Hiscox Professional Indemnity Insurance can help protect you if a client makes a claim that there's a problem with the work you have done for them.

Our professional indemnity cover protects you against risks such as:

Risk Example
Negligence Making a mistake in your work or giving bad advice.
Intellectual property Unintentional infringement of copyright, trademarks or moral rights, for example using content from a website or publication without permission.
Breach of confidence Sharing confidential or sensitive information without consent.
Defamation Making false or damaging claims about a person or organisation.

Find the right level of cover for your business

When working out the right level of cover for your business, you should consider:

  • any contractual requirements for PI cover
  • the maximum compensation that could be awarded against you
  • the potential cost of legal defence fees if it came to the worst
  • the size of your clients and the projects you work on.

We offer cover tailored to the needs of specific professions so that you can be confident you are properly protected.

Is this policy right for you?

  • You provide advice or expertise that your clients could challenge
  • Someone could claim you're using their content without permission
  • You handle confidential or commercially sensitive information

Other business insurance for IoD members

From covering you for accidents to the contents of your office – wherever it may be – we provide additional business insurance solutions across a wide range of areas.

Find out more

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