Overview and key points
For many professional firms, professional indemnity (PI) insurance has felt like a necessary frustration in recent years: rising premiums, restricted cover and limited choice.
The good news is that the market has shifted. For many businesses, the outlook is now more positive than it has been for some time — and that creates a timely opportunity to reassess whether your PI policy is still doing what it should.
Our recent reviews of professional indemnity policies for both existing and new clients are revealing meaningful improvements in insurer appetite, policy coverage and, in some cases, premium levels. For business owners and boards, this is a chance to ensure insurance arrangements reflect today’s realities, not the conditions of a far tougher market.
Good news for professional indemnity insurance – a more balanced market has emerged.
Over the past 12–18 months, the PI market has begun to rebalance.
Insurers have expanded their risk appetites, refreshed their underwriting teams and have a greater willingness to engage. New specialist insurers and MGAs have entered the market, increasing competition and driving a more pragmatic approach to pricing and coverage.
For businesses, this means:
- Greater choice of insurers
- More constructive conversations around risk
- Increased flexibility in policy terms
- A renewed opportunity to challenge exclusions once seen as non-negotiable
Many insurers are now reviewing risks they haven’t considered for years — or at all — making this an ideal time to test the market rather than default to a rollover renewal.
Why should you review your professional indemnity now?
Professional indemnity insurance is not simply a compliance exercise. It is a balance sheet protection tool.
Claims can arise years after a project completes, often triggered by third-party failure or regulatory scrutiny rather than wrongdoing by the insured firm. Legal defence costs alone can be significant, regardless of fault.
For directors and partners, the quality of professional indemnity cover directly affects financial resilience, director and officer exposure, contractual credibility and the ability to secure future work. In short, PI insurance should support growth — not quietly undermine it.
Where we’re seeing the biggest changes
Built environment professionals — particularly architects, engineers and design & build contractors — were among the hardest hit during the market downturn. Encouragingly, many insurers have now softened their stance on cladding and fire safety, with cover increasingly being reintroduced.
Similarly, for RICS regulated firms, while some insurers still offer only minimum required cover, there is now greater scope to secure protection above regulatory baselines — providing valuable additional resilience when facing claims, client challenge or lender scrutiny.
A timely opportunity to review
If your PI policy hasn’t been meaningfully reviewed in the last two years, it may no longer reflect your true risk profile, where your business is today or the level of protection your board expects.
With the market moving in a more positive direction, now is the right time to review — and potentially strengthen — one of your business’s most critical protections.
To discuss your PI cover, speak to your Partners& risk adviser or contact our PI team at PI@partnersand.com.
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