Professional indemnity Insurance

Protect your business with essential coverage against claims of professional mistakes and negligence.

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What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Professional indemnity insurance protects you if a client claims you made a mistake in your work that caused them financial loss. This could be giving wrong advice, delivering poor-quality services, or creating designs with errors.

It covers legal defence costs and any compensation you may need to pay, helping you avoid serious financial strain. This type of insurance is essential for professionals, freelancers, and contractors who provide advice, design, or specialist services.

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What does it cover?

  • Negligence or mistakes – Errors, omissions, or poor advice that cause financial loss to a client
  • Defamation – Libel or slander that damages someone’s reputation
  • Intellectual property infringement – Claims of copyright or design breaches
  • Legal costs and settlements – Expenses if a claim is made against you
  • Data breaches and cyber liability – Legal issues if client data is leaked, stolen, or misused

Do I Need Professional Indemnity Insurance?

It’s not legally required in the UK for most professions, but it’s highly recommended if you:

  • Provide advice or professional services.
  • Handle sensitive client information or data.
  • Work as a freelancer, contractor, or consultant.

Some clients and professional bodies may require it before you start a project.

How Much Cover Do I Need?

The level of cover depends on:

  • The type of work you do and the size of your projects.
  • Your clients’ requirements (many will specify minimum cover).
  • The potential financial impact if something goes wrong.

Policies typically range from £100,000 to £2 million or more. Choose a level that would cover legal fees, compensation, and the cost of fixing mistakes.

The cost (or “premium”) will depend on several factors and is based on the predicted likelihood of a claim being made against you and the potential size of any claim. It considers factors including the type of work you’ll be carrying out, the level of cover that you have requested and how long you need cover for.

As a general rule of thumb, the riskier your business the higher your premium will be.

We cover a wide range of professions including IT & software development, design, marketing & advertising, management consultants, media, and many more. Our Professional Indemnity is suitable for freelancers, sole traders, contractors, the self-employed, and small businesses.

If you don’t have this protection then you could be liable for any costs relating to a claim made against you. This could include legal costs and compensation. Even if you are on a short-term contract, you could still have a claim made against you months down the line if something happens which a client believes was down to your negligence or mistake.

There is a small excess amount. However, you only have to pay this if a claim against you is successful, so you can call us to discuss any worries or concerns you have about anything related to a potential claim without worrying that we are going to charge you for it. We are here to help.

Every Professional Indemnity policy from Tapoly has a claims cut-off date clearly labelled in the Schedule document, so you know how long the cover will last. You can extend the claims cut-off date up to a full year after the policy start date.

The purpose of the insurance is to provide cover for mistakes made, it is not a general business insurance policy. For example, it doesn’t cover loss or damage to business equipment – this would be covered by Contents insurance. Nor does it protect employees or clients if they are hurt on your premises – these instances would be covered by Employer’s Liability and Public Liability. If you would like more information on what’s not included, read our full list of exclusions below.

Professional Indemnity insurance will not make any payment for any claim or loss resulting from:

  • Bodily injury and property damage. This exclusion does not apply to any claim resulting from your design, advice or consultancy as part of your professional services.
  • Business specific exclusions. Any defect in any telecoms or technology hardware or software which is the sole responsibility of a third party. This exclusion does not apply to any amount you can recover under a written contract with a third party.
  • Charge back liability. Any liability incurred by you or your client under a Merchant Services Agreement including any credit card company or bank wholly or partially reversing or preventing a payment transaction, except this exclusion does not apply to PCI Fines and costs extension.
  • Contractual liability exclusion. Any contractual liability except to the extent you are liable in the absence of a contract or agreement.
  • Defamatory statements. Any statement you knew, or ought reasonably to have known, was defamatory at the time of publication.
  • Directors & Officers liability. Any liability or breach of duty or obligation owed by any of your directors, officers, trustees or board members while acting in that capacity. This would be covered by Directors & Officers insurance.

Need more help?

Our online quote is fast and simple but, if you need help or a wider range of policy options, our team of experts.

Call us today: 020 7846 0108

9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

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Why choose Tapoly?

Accessible Coverage

Get the protection you need, whenever you need it, with our easy-to-use online platform.

Affordable Pricing

Designed to fit your budget, ensuring you’re protected without breaking the bank.

Flexible and tailored

Choose coverage that grows with your business, from professional indemnity to public liability and beyond.

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