Professional Indemnity Insurance - Market Facts and Figures

 

Lloyds of London buildingThe UK professional indemnity insurance market.

Here is a snapshot of the UK professional indemnity insurance market.

It includes estimates about the size of the market and some breakdown, product distribution, major insurance companies and examples of larger claims.

Size of the market
  • Estimated premium value of UK market: £ 3 billion
  • Estimated number of UK policyholders: 1.5 million
  • Growth in the self-employed and freelance markets coupled with improved online product distribution has fuelled a considerable rise in policyholder numbers in the last 5 years.  
  • Over 500 different occupation types now purchase professional indemnity insurance. These include the original traditional professions such as solicitors and accountants but also the many other emerging occupations in science, technology and medical.
Claims

An example of a large professional negligence claim in the UK: A negligence claim of £ 1.6 billion was filed in 2013 against a major Accountancy firm. The claim was based on the auditing of a sub-prime lender. It was settled in 2015 just before its high court hearing and the terms of settlement remain confidential.

Main types of high risk work causing professional indemnity insurance claims (excluding medical malpractice)
  • Conveyancing (Legal)
  • Taxation (Accountancy)
  • Investment / mis-selling (Financial Services)
  • Valuation (Property)
  • Design (Construction)
Product distribution

Distribution is dominated by specialist insurance brokers. Over 85% of all UK professional indemnity premium is placed through insurance brokers. 

Distribution of PI insurance online is the fastest growing sector of the market in terms of policy sales. Number of Google searches: 250,000 annual.

Largest professions (excluding medical) by estimated open market annual premium
  1. Construction and Design: £ 600 million
  2. Solicitors: £ 280 million
  3. Accountants: £ 140 million
  4. Surveyors / Property: £ 90 million
  5. Financial Services: £ 90 million
  6. Insurance Broking £ 70 million
  7. Financial Institutions: £ 120 million
  8. Tech: £ 100 million 
Examples of specialist insurance brokers
  • Professional Indemnity Insurance Brokers
  • Howden Group
  • Aon
  • Marsh
  • MGB Insurance Brokers
Major insurers

Largest professional indemnity insurer: Lloyds of London through various Lloyds syndicates.

Other major insurers include:

  • Amercian International Group (AIG)
  • Allianz Global
  • Aviva
  • AXA
  • Chubb European
  • Hiscox Insurance 
  • Liberty Mutual
  • Manchester Underwriting
  • Markel International
  • Royal and Sun Alliance
  • Tokyo Marine HCC
  • Travelers Insurance 
  • Zurich
Top UK cities with an industry recognised professional indemnity insurance market and community
  1. London
  2. Bristol
  3. Edinburgh

This article is intended for information purposes only. However, the information is subject to ongoing change and whilst all care was taken to ensure the accuracy of the article at the time of writing, it is not updated. © Professional Indemnity Insurance Brokers Ltd