How to… plan for broker PI cover

▶ Prior to regulation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) when professional indemnity (PI) cover became compulsory for general insurance brokers, very few firms purchased the cover. It could be argued that this is because at that time the industry, and the UK generally, was a far less litigious place than it is now. Today it is quite plain that most general insurance broking firms are inadequately insured for PI, largely because they have failed to evaluate their own risk.

For most professions the idea of applying their trade to their own set of circumstances is anathema. The vast majority of general insurance brokers purchasing PI ask not “what is my exposure to claims”, but “what is the FSA minimum requirement for this cover”. If expressed by a client, this is a sentiment that any insurance broker would go to great pains to explain as folly.

As at June 2011, the current FSA minimum requirement for UK general insurance brokers buying PI cover is €1,120,200 (£987