Public liability vs professional indemnity: which does your work need?

Reviewed by: Lee Evans
Business & Leisure Insurance Expert

Written by: Katie Gawley
Insurance Content Writer

Fact-checked by: Quotezone Editorial Team

This content follows our Editorial Guidelines

Last Updated: 13 October 2026
Read time: 13 min

This guide is for anyone asked for “PL and PI” by a client or contract, or arranging business cover for the first time. Set public liability and professional indemnity side by side and the difference comes down to who claims against you and what they lost.

Public liability covers claims that your work injured someone or damaged their property. Professional indemnity covers claims that your work was negligent and cost a client money.

Jump to information on:

• Which policy your work needs
• What each policy covers
• The two side by side
• The law, licences and regulators
• How much cover
• Claims made years later
• The wrong cover
• FAQs

Which policy does your work need?

It depends on what your work involves day to day, plus anything a licence, regulator or contract adds.

You work on site or customers come to you

Public liability answers this risk. It fits work in homes, offices or on building sites, and premises people visit, such as a shop, studio or treatment room. The risk there is someone getting hurt, or their property being damaged.

Clients pay for your expertise

Professional indemnity answers this risk. Consultants, designers, IT contractors and bookkeepers all carry it. Your client acts on what you produce, and if it is wrong, they lose money and look to you for it.

You do both

If your work carries both risks, both policies may be relevant. A kitchen fitter who also draws the plans has both risks in one job. So does a consultant who runs workshops at a client’s offices. Tell each insurer about all the work you do, including any recommendations you make.

A client or contract asks for it

A client contract may state the cover you must hold and the limit. Read the insurance clause before you sign, and check which policies it names. Some licences and regulators also set requirements, covered further down this page.

What each policy covers

Public liability

Public liability covers claims from customers or members of the public who are injured, or whose property is damaged, because of your business activities. Examples include a customer tripping over a box in your shop, or a dropped tool cracking a client’s kitchen floor.

Quotezone’s public liability insurance page describes it as cover for the legal expenses and compensation in those cases. Quotezone’s guide to what public liability insurance is and who legally needs it goes into more detail.

Professional indemnity

Professional indemnity covers you if a mistake or negligence in your work causes a client financial loss. The client relied on your work and lost money. Claims can start from a wrong recommendation, a design error, lost client data or a claim that you infringed someone’s intellectual property.

Quotezone’s professional indemnity insurance page lists intellectual property and loss of data among the areas that can lead to legal proceedings.

If your client is a consumer, the law sets a standard for your work across the UK. Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats every contract to supply a service as including a term that you will perform it with reasonable care and skill.

Public liability vs professional indemnity at a glance

Exact cover varies between insurers, so treat this table as a guide.

Is either a legal requirement?

No general law requires either policy. Some licences require public liability, and some regulators require professional indemnity. The examples below say which nations they cover.

Licences that require public liability

The childminder and horse-hire rules apply in England, and the road licence in England and Wales. In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, check other licences with the body that issues them.

Ofsted’s requirements for childminders on the Childcare Register say you must have public liability insurance. In England, a licence to hire out horses requires a valid public liability certificate under schedule 5 of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

Councils can ask too. GOV.UK says you need a public liability insurance certificate for a road occupation licence for building work in England and Wales.

Regulators that require professional indemnity

The SRA’s rules cover England and Wales. The other requirements below apply across the UK.

• The SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules require SRA-authorised firms and their principals to hold it.
• Chartered surveyors’ firms must cover all previous and current professional work, under RICS’s requirements for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
• ICAEW’s PII regulations apply to members holding a practising certificate who live in the UK, whatever the form of practice.
• FCA-authorised insurance and mortgage intermediaries must hold it under MIPRU 3.2 of the FCA Handbook.
• All architects in business or practice are expected to hold adequate insurance under Standard 4 of the Architects Code, according to the Architects Registration Board.
• For HCPC registrants, it is a statutory duty. Article 11A of the Health Professions Order 2001 says each practising registrant must have an indemnity arrangement in force.

Solicitors in Scotland and Northern Ireland answer to their own Law Society. Each society has powers to require indemnity insurance, under section 44 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 and article 63 of the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976.

Employers’ liability is a separate duty

In Great Britain, GOV.UK says you need employers’ liability insurance as soon as you become an employer, covering at least £5 million. You can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured. You do not need it if you only employ a family member.

In Great Britain, check with your insurer how the family exemption applies to a limited company before relying on it.

Northern Ireland has its own duty, under the Employer’s Liability (Defective Equipment and Compulsory Insurance) (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. Quotezone’s guide to what business insurance you actually need covers the other policies the law can require.

How much cover do you need?

Start with any minimum your regulator sets. If none applies, use the figure in your contract, or the largest loss your work can realistically cause a client. For public liability, check any figure your contract or licence sets.

Check how your limit applies. ICAEW’s regulations explain the difference. An aggregate limit is the total the policy pays across the year. Cover on an each and every claim basis can pay more in total when several claims arrive.

For example, take a £300,000 aggregate limit and two £200,000 claims in a year. The first is paid in full, leaving £100,000 for the second.

Why professional indemnity runs on a different clock

Professional indemnity pays claims made while the policy is in force, even for work done years earlier. In ICAEW’s words in its PII regulations, “Professional indemnity insurance works on a claims made basis.” A current policy therefore mainly covers past work.

1. Retroactive date: your policy won’t cover work done before this date. For ICAEW qualifying insurance, it must be at least six years before the current policy or the start of your practice.
2. In England and Wales, a client has six years to sue for breach of contract under section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. Section 2 sets six years in negligence.
3. Hidden damage: for negligence where the damage was not apparent, section 14A allows three years from when it could have been discovered. A 15-year longstop applies under section 14B.
4. Some regulators require run-off cover after you stop. The SRA requires six years after a firm ceases practice, and RICS expects six years. ICAEW requires two years, then reasonable steps to keep cover for four more.

Scotland has its own periods under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. Northern Ireland’s are in the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. Wherever you work, letting a policy lapse can leave a claim about past work with no policy to answer it.

What happens if you have the wrong cover?

You may have to pay the damages and legal costs yourself. A public liability policy is not built for a client’s financial loss claim, and a professional indemnity policy is not built for a visitor’s injury.

Describe your work accurately as well. The Insurance Act 2015 applies across the UK. Under section 3, you must make a fair presentation of the risk before the policy starts. That includes every material circumstance you know or ought to know.

Say you tell an insurer you only fit kitchens when you also design them. Section 8 lets the insurer reduce or refuse a claim if it would have declined the cover or offered different terms.

You can compare professional indemnity insurance from UK insurance providers on Quotezone, or compare public liability cover if your risk is injury and damage.

For professional indemnity, Quotezone sends one short form to its panel, and the providers then contact you to discuss their policies.

You might also need

• Public liability insurance: if customers visit you or you work at other people’s homes and sites.
• Employers’ liability insurance: a separate policy for claims from your own staff once you take people on.
• Cyber insurance: Quotezone’s page lists hacking and data breaches among the risks it is designed for.

Public liability and professional indemnity FAQs

Does public liability cover professional negligence?

It is not designed to. Quotezone’s public liability page describes cover for injury to members of the public and damage to their property. A claim that your recommendation or design cost a client money is a financial loss. That is the risk professional indemnity is designed for, so check each policy’s wording if your work carries both.

Is professional indemnity a legal requirement?

No general law requires it, but several regulators do, including the SRA, RICS, ICAEW and the FCA for insurance and mortgage intermediaries. For HCPC registrants it is a statutory duty under article 11A of the Health Professions Order 2001. If you work in a regulated profession, your regulator’s rules set out what you need.

Do I need professional indemnity as a sole trader?

Professional indemnity is relevant if clients rely on your designs, reports or expertise and would lose money if you got them wrong. Working for yourself doesn’t change that risk. Where a regulator applies, its rules can reach you too: ICAEW’s PII regulations apply whatever the form of practice, including sole practitioners.

Sources

1. legislation.gov.uk, Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/49. Accessed 13 October 2026.
2. Solicitors Regulation Authority, “SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules”, https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/indemnity-insurance-rules/. Accessed 13 October 2026.
3. RICS, “Professional indemnity insurance requirements, UK and Republic of Ireland: Version 11”, https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/regulation/RICS-Professional-indemnity-insurance-requirements_UK-and-Republic-of-Ireland_020725.pdf. In effect from 1 July 2025. Accessed 13 October 2026.
4. ICAEW, “ICAEW PII Regulations effective from 1 October 2026”, https://www.icaew.com/-/media/corporate/files/regulations/professional-indemnity-insurance/pii-regulations-effective-1-october-2026.ashx. Accessed 13 October 2026.
5. FCA, FCA Handbook, MIPRU 3.2 “Professional indemnity insurance requirements”, https://handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/mipru3/mipru3s2. Accessed 13 October 2026.
6. Architects Registration Board, “Professional Indemnity Insurance”, https://arb.org.uk/architect-information/professional-indemnity-insurance/. Accessed 13 October 2026.
7. legislation.gov.uk, Health Professions Order 2001, article 11A, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/254/article/11A. Accessed 13 October 2026.
8. legislation.gov.uk, Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980, section 44, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/46/section/44. Accessed 13 October 2026.
9. legislation.gov.uk, Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, article 63, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1976/582/article/63. Accessed 13 October 2026.
10. Ofsted, GOV.UK, “Childminders on the compulsory Childcare Register: Ofsted requirements”, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/childminders-on-the-compulsory-childcare-register-ofsted-requirements. Updated 1 September 2026. Accessed 13 October 2026.
11. legislation.gov.uk, Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, schedule 5, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/486/schedule/5. Accessed 13 October 2026.
12. GOV.UK, “Road occupation licence for building work (England and Wales)”, https://www.gov.uk/find-licences/road-occupation-licence-for-building-work. Accessed 13 October 2026.
13. GOV.UK, “Employers’ liability insurance”, https://www.gov.uk/employers-liability-insurance. Accessed 13 October 2026.
14. legislation.gov.uk, Employer’s Liability (Defective Equipment and Compulsory Insurance) (Northern Ireland) Order 1972, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1972/963/contents. Accessed 13 October 2026.
15. legislation.gov.uk, Limitation Act 1980, sections 2, 5, 14A and 14B, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/5. Accessed 13 October 2026.
16. legislation.gov.uk, Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/52/contents. Accessed 13 October 2026.
17. legislation.gov.uk, Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1989/1339/contents. Accessed 13 October 2026.
18. legislation.gov.uk, Insurance Act 2015, sections 3 and 8, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/4/section/3. Accessed 13 October 2026.

This article is intended as generic information only and is not intended to apply to anybody’s specific circumstances, demands or needs. The views expressed are not intended to provide any financial service or to give any recommendation or advice. Products and services are only mentioned for illustrative rather than promotional purposes.