Accountants were one of the first professions to make professional indemnity insurance compulsory for regulated firms. Today, it's a large insurance market with many insurers battling for market share. It's important to have some understanding of how the market works to be able to make an informed decision on which product is best for your firm. Does creating the right impression really matter? Professional indemnity insurance for accountants is usually purchased from a specialist broker. A good broker lowers the premium cost as well as providing valuable advice and support throughout the insurance period, especially on claims.
| ACCA Member Type | Minimum Limit of Indemnity | Maximum Deductible | Coverage Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practising Certificate Holder (Audit) | GBP 1,500,000 | GBP 5,000 | Per claim, any one occurrence |
| Practising Certificate Holder (Non-Audit) | GBP 500,000 | GBP 2,500 | Aggregate for all claims |
| Insolvency Practitioner | GBP 2,500,000 | GBP 10,000 | Per claim, any one occurrence |
| Member in Business (Non-Practising) | Not Mandatory | N/A | Recommended by employer |
We have provided professional indemnity insurance quotations to hundreds of accountancy firms, from new starts to multi million pound businesses. Rates for Accountants PI insurance typically range between .3% and 1.5% of fee income, depending on the usual risk factors and market competition. Rates can also be higher or lower than this depending on the work undertaken, the claims history etc. Rates are discounted for new start firms as there is no history or legacy to insure.
Claims history — If you’ve made a claim on your policy or had claims made against you, it may affect your future premiums. *The price is for a offices and surgeries policy – 10% of customers who were sold with one of our panel providers paid £197.16 or less annually (excluding any additional administration fees) between 01/01/25 & 31/12/2025. Equivalent to £16.43 a month or £0.54 a day (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). Your actual policy and price may vary based on your business requirements. At Bionic, we champion UK business owners and want to help in every way we can.
That’s why we use a team of knowledgeable insurance brokers who work with a panel of trusted insurers to help you find coverage for your needs. Our UK-based team helps business owners daily to compare business insurance to find the right insurer that fits. Accountancy insurance could shield your professional reputation from financial and legal damages. Compare insurance quotes in three simple steps Speed up the process by submitting basic business details online – whenever you have time. Schedule a call with one of our insurance brokers to discuss the details to ensure they’re correct. You should also bear in mind that minimum premiums will also apply which can vary considerably between insurers. For example, a minimum premium for an accountant could be £ 100 or £ 1,000 depending on the insurer selected. The minimum premium is the insurance companies starting premium for insuring any risk.
A legal requirement if you have employees. In case you injure someone or damage something while providing your services. In case a customer sues you for damages because of a mistake in your work. Protects your building from unforeseen property damage including fire, storms, floods but also arsonists and vandalism. To provide compensation if a listed event stops your business from running normally.
Prices could start from around 54p per day*. Because all businesses are different, it’s difficult to give a solid figure for what you’ll be paying for insurance without speaking to a broker. Your business is unique, and price depends on a number of factors, including: Extent of cover — The more cover you opt for, the more expensive your package will likely be. Your insurer — Depending on who is willing to insure you, the price for their policies will vary. Location — The location of your business is taken into consideration when calculating the cost of your premiums. If you stop trading you may be required by your regulator to carry run-off insurance which is usually a multiple of the annual premium.
Get your quotes from our panel of trusted insurers and through any questions with our team. You only need a few details to get started with getting a free business insurance quote online, so it’s best to have the following information ready to go: Your name and contact details to receive your quote options You may be asked additional questions about business activities Never spoken to a business insurance broker before? Here's what you need to know: from finding one that’s right for your business, to renewals, claims and more. Our Senior Technical Insurance Manager, Ollie Barrett, walks you through what to expect when arranging business insurance with a broker for the first time. We all love to make an extra bit of on the side, but what happens your side hustle goes sideways?
If you don't have any business insurance in place, you could end up paying out the cash you've earnt in legal fees or otherwise. Find out what you need to protect your side hustle in this guide. Every year your business insurance is going to be due for renewal. But do you stay or switch insurer? How do you know if you need to make changes to cover? It's not good practice to buy accountants' professional indemnity insurance as a 'commodity' purchased only on its price. However good the policy wording is, professional indemnity is commercial insurance and coverage disputes can still occur.
Use a specialist broker to get some good advice. The insurance 'rate' is the percentage of fee income or turnover an underwriter requires to provide the insurance cover. It is decided upon by using the usual risk factors including type of profession (accountancy, architecture, surveyor etc), the breakdown of activities, any prior claims etc. This is then applied as a percentage to a firms rateable fee income or turnover. For example, if an underwriter decide they require a rate of 0.5% to insure an accountancy firm with a fee income of £ 500,000, the annual premium quoted will be £ 2,500 (net of insurance tax). There are many different scenarios where an accountancy firm can find themselves needing to claim on their professional indemnity insurance. Some are obvious but others are not, so here are a few real examples; Background - A firm of independent accountants were the auditors to an import company. The company was providing false information for the purpose of raising money from banks. A fraud was committed and the banks sued the auditors for failing to detect the fraud.
Cover for breach of professional duty or unintentional breach of contract where this leads bet no deposit new customer offers to a claim for financial loss against you. Professional indemnity claims against Accountants range from hundreds to millions of pounds. Claims can arise from many different scenarios but key areas of risk include ; Misleading or inaccurate advice such as poor tax advice, recommendations or advice on business valuations that leads to quantifiable financial losses. Failure to detect fraud as an auditor to a company. Loss of documents or data in the accountant’s care including the costs of restoring or replacing them and associated client loss where covered.
Certain civil liabilities such as defamation, unintentional breach of confidentiality or intellectual property rights, in the course of providing professional services. Professional indemnity insurance for an Accounting firm is best obtained through a specialist broker. A good broker will reduce the annual premium cost as well as providing invaluable advice and support. Unless you have the necessary insurance expertise, beware of buying your cover online. Buying a policy online may not give you the cover you actually require. Background - An accountant failed to inform their client that their income had exceeded the VAT threshold and they should, therefore, register for VAT. As a result, the client claimed against the accountant for the eventual liability. Background - A client purchased a company which turned out to be a bad investment. They claimed their accountants had been involved in the due diligence process and failed to warn them of certain fundamental issues. Background - An accountancy firm was recommending a local firm of independent financial advisers (IFA) to their clients, for which they were receiving referral commissions.
The IFA went into liquidation and it soon became apparent that poor product advice had been given. Various clients then claimed against the accountant for having referred them to the IFA. The current PI insurance market for Accountants continues to soften and there are now many different options available, often offering more cover at a lower cost. Accountants' professional indemnity insurance is estimated to be worth in the region of £100 million of premium income to the insurance market.
This is paid for by the 20,000 firms practising in the UK.
We've got it all covered in this guide. Sign-up to The Backbone, our free fortnightly newsletter for anyone who owns, runs, or works in one of the millions of businesses across the UK. Get the inside track from real business owners just like you Since 2011 we have been arranging tailored professional indemnity insurance for Accountants. We have a specialist knowledge of the professional indemnity market and offer a range of services to help established and new-start Accountants obtain their cover quickly and at a competitive premium. With at least 45 insurance companies on the current ICAEW list of Participating Insurers there's plenty of competition available, which is why thousands of Accountancy firms already arrange their professional indemnity insurance with these companies.
We have a dedicated team looking after the PI interests of many Accountancy firms throughout the UK. Fast service quotations normally within 24 - 48 hours Dedicated Account Manager your own central point of contact High client retention 94% of clients choose to renew with us year on year. Tailored insurance designed to fit the firm Policy wordings vary, but certain protections are core to professional indemnity insurance for Accountants. Cover for the financial compensation you have to pay if you made an error, omission or gave negligent advice in the course of your professional services. Your legal defence costs including solicitors, counsel, experts and court fees.