Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Professional indemnity definition

What does Professional indemnity mean? Professional indemnity describes the insurance legal practices and other professionals maintain to cover civil liability to clients and third parties for negligence, breach of duty and related claims, usually including defence costs. In legal services it is a descriptive term rather than a statutory definition; its scope is set by regulators’ rules and the policy wording. Across the UK and Ireland, solicitors’ firms and many other regulated legal services providers are required to maintain professional indemnity insurance (PII), but the mechanism and minimum terms differ. In England and Wales, the SRA’s Indemnity Insurance Rules and Minimum Terms and Conditions require authorised firms...

Professional indemnity insurance on construction projects: obligations, cover levels, claims‑made operation, fitness‑for‑purpose exclusions, defence costs and drafting guidance with sample clause

Published by a LexisNexis Construction expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note examines Professional indemnity (PI) insurance in the setting of construction projects—the requirement to carry insurance, the level and basis of cover, and standard clause wording obliging parties to maintain PI cover. For a broader review of Professional indemnity insurance, see Practice Note: Professional indemnity insurance—essentials. It also reviews the usual wording found in clauses mandating the maintenance of PI insurance.

Although this Practice Note addresses a consultant’s duty to keep PI insurance in force, main contractors and sub-contractors who assume design duties must likewise maintain such insurance, and the same principles outlined below apply equally to them.

A contractor with no design role might regard PI cover as unnecessary; however, if it departs from a consultant’s design, an employer might claim the contractor made an ‘on-the-spot design decision’, potentially engaging a PI policy. For further detail, see Practice Note: Design liability in construction contracts—Responsibility for design under different procurement routes (notably, the section headed ‘Traditional’).

Requirement to hold professional indemnity insurance

A consultant’s appointment on a construction project will typically oblige the consultant to procure and keep in place PI insurance (also known as PII)...

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

Popular documents

Using the Judicial College Guidelines to assess general damages in personal injury claims

When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...

Tomlin orders in England and Wales: CPR guidance on drafting, confidentiality, approval, variation, enforcement, limitation, CCA issues, court-specific requirements, sample wording and precedents

This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...

Precedent: Deed of Surrender of Lease with Optional Premium, Settlement and Release, Landlord, Mortgagee and Guarantor Consents, Reimbursement and HM Land Registry Provisions (England and Wales)

Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...

Precedent Statutory Declaration: Standard Wording under the Statutory Declarations Act 1835

I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...