Which Professions Need Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Professional indemnity covers claims that your advice, designs or professional work caused a client financial loss. It is not required by general UK law — there's no blanket statute making it compulsory. What makes it mandatory for some people is their profession: certain regulators require it as a condition of practising and set their own minimum levels, and beyond that, many consultancy and client contracts demand it. So “do I need it?” comes down to whether a regulator or a contract says you do.

Required by general law?No

Not a blanket legal duty

Regulated profession?Often mandatory

Set by your regulator

Advisory / consultancy?Recommended

Often required by contracts

There is no single national minimum for professional indemnity cover. Where it's mandatory, the level is set by your regulator or your contract and varies widely — ⚠ confirm the current figure that applies to your profession with the relevant regulator.

What professional indemnity covers

Professional indemnity responds when your professional work — advice, designs, specifications, reports or services — is alleged to have caused a client financial loss. It's the exposure carried by people whose product is their judgement: consultants, designers, accountants, architects, surveyors, IT contractors and other advisory businesses. If a client acts on your work, loses money and blames your work for it, this is the cover that responds.

Is it required by law? (Usually not — but your regulator may make it mandatory)

For most businesses, there's no law compelling professional indemnity. You can trade without it unless something else requires it of you. That “something else” is usually one of two things: a professional regulator that makes cover a condition of being allowed to practise, or a client contract that won't proceed without it. Neither is a general statute — which is why the honest answer is “it depends on your profession and who you work for,” not a simple yes or no.

Professions where a regulator makes it mandatory

Several regulators require members to hold professional indemnity (or an equivalent indemnity arrangement) to practise, and set a minimum level of cover. The figures below are indicative of how each regulator frames it — but they change, and they vary by turnover, fee income or permission type, so treat them as a pointer to check, not a quote:

Solicitors (SRA) — commonly £2m–£3m minimum. ⚠ Check the SRA's current rules for your firm.
Accountants (ICAEW) — £2m, or 2.5× fee income. ⚠ Check the ICAEW's current requirement.
Surveyors (RICS) — £250k–£1m depending on turnover. ⚠ Check the RICS's current scale.
Financial advisers and other FCA-regulated firms — cover is mandatory as a condition of authorisation. The minimum is set by the FCA Handbook (MIPRU 3 for intermediaries, IPRU-INV 13 for investment firms), typically around €1.25m+ per claim and varying by permission type. ⚠ Confirm the figure for your exact permission — see the FCA guidance on professional indemnity insurance.
Architects (ARB) — professional indemnity is expected of registered architects. ⚠ We don't state a fixed figure here — check the ARB's current requirement directly.
Registered healthcare professionals — must hold “appropriate” indemnity cover to stay on the register, with no fixed figure set by the regulator. NHS work is covered by NHS / state indemnity; private or self-employed work needs your own cover, usually via a medical defence organisation or insurer — see the GMC guidance on insurance and indemnity.

Professions where it's contract-driven, not regulator-required

If your profession isn't regulated, no regulator forces professional indemnity on you — but your clients often will. Consultants, IT and software contractors, designers, marketing and creative agencies and similar advisory businesses are routinely asked to hold professional indemnity as a condition of a contract, and clients frequently set their own minimum level in the paperwork. Here the requirement is commercial, not statutory: no cover can mean no contract, even though nothing in law compels it.

You're an independent consultant. A client acts on your advice, the project goes wrong, and they say your recommendation cost them money. No law required you to hold professional indemnity — but the agency contract you signed to win the work did, at a level they set. With cover, the policy responds to the claim and the defence costs; without it, defending the allegation and any settlement would fall on you personally. That's the two-sided reason advisory businesses carry it: the real exposure, and the contract that assumes you've insured it.

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Frequently asked questions

Is professional indemnity insurance a legal requirement?

Not by general law. There's no blanket UK statute making professional indemnity compulsory for businesses. But some professional regulators make it mandatory as a condition of practising, and many consultancy, agency and client contracts require it — so for a lot of advisory work it's effectively unavoidable even though no general law demands it.

Which professions must have professional indemnity insurance?

Chiefly the regulated professions whose regulator mandates it — for example solicitors (SRA), accountants (ICAEW), surveyors (RICS), architects (ARB), financial advisers and other FCA-regulated firms, and registered healthcare professionals. The required level varies by regulator, so ⚠ check the current rule that applies to your profession rather than assuming a single figure.

How much professional indemnity cover do I need?

There's no single national minimum. It's set by your regulator or your contract, and levels vary widely — for example solicitors (SRA) commonly £2m–£3m, accountants (ICAEW) £2m or 2.5× fee income, surveyors (RICS) £250k–£1m by turnover, and FCA-regulated firms typically around €1.25m+ per claim depending on permission. ⚠ Confirm the current figure for your exact profession or permission with your regulator.

Do I need professional indemnity if my profession isn't regulated?

Not by law or a regulator — but in practice many clients require it. Consultancy, design, tech and agency contracts frequently set a professional indemnity minimum you must hold to win the work, so the requirement comes from the contract rather than statute.

What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

It covers claims that your advice, designs, specifications or professional services caused a client financial loss — the exposure carried by consultants, designers, accountants, architects, IT contractors and other advisory businesses.

Related guides

Professional indemnity insurance is not required by general UK law. Where it's mandatory, the requirement and minimum level are set by the profession's regulator — for example the SRA (solicitors), ICAEW (accountants), RICS (surveyors), ARB (architects), the FCA (financial advisers and other authorised firms) and the healthcare regulators (for example the GMC). These minimums vary by regulator, turnover, fee income and permission type and change over time, so ⚠ confirm the current figure that applies to you with your own regulator rather than relying on a single national number. For the insurance that is required by law, see do I need employers' liability insurance?