The solo consultant – freelance, contracting, or portfolio – is the modal buyer of professional indemnity in Britain, and the market prices accordingly: this is the cheapest, most competitive corner of business insurance, with strong online products and genuine choice. The complications are few but real: client contract requirements, IR35-adjacent working arrangements, and the gap between what you call yourself and what your policy schedule says. This guide covers the essentials for individual consultants of every stripe.
What insurance does a consultant need?
Professional indemnity – the core. Whatever your specialism, the claim shape is constant: advice or deliverables alleged to have caused client financial loss, plus the adjacent civil liabilities good wordings include (unintentional IP infringement, confidentiality breach, defamation). £1m is the standard client-contract ask; £2m–£5m appears in corporate and public-sector terms. Two contract-reading habits pay for themselves: check required limits before signing, and check whether terms demand cover be maintained for years after the engagement (claims-made cover means you'll need run-off or continuous cover to honour that).
Public liability. Client-site work makes it a standard contractual requirement – cheap to bundle.
Contractor dimensions. Consultants working through personal service companies inside IR35-sensitive engagements often buy from contractor specialists (Kingsbridge, Qdos) whose packages bundle PI/PL/EL with IR35-adjacent services; Markel Direct similarly targets contractors with IR35 contract-review perks. If that's your working world, those propositions fit it.
Also: cyber (client data on your laptop), business equipment, legal expenses (fee disputes), and employers' liability the moment you engage anyone – including, in many wordings' eyes, regular subcontractors.
How much does it cost?
Verified floors: Markel Direct from £5/month; AXA PI from £6/month (£66/year); Simply Business PI from £6.62/month (10% of customers paid ≤£79.41/year); Suited from £7/month (£100k limit); Hiscox from £9.80/month. Independent analyses put typical consultant PI at £130–£500/year depending on specialism (IT consultants ~£180–£300; management/strategy work toward the top; anything financial higher still). Turnover, client sector and contract limits drive the rest.
Comparison of providers
| Provider | Type | From | Notable features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Markel Direct | Direct insurer | £5/mo | 90-second quotes; legal helpline; IR35 contract-review perk; 200k+ microbusinesses |
| AXA | Direct insurer | £66/yr | Household name; previous-work cover options |
| Simply Business | Comparison | £6.62/mo | Multi-insurer benchmark; fast contract certificates; 4.2 Trustpilot |
| Hiscox | Direct insurer | £9.80/mo | The premium PI brand; strong claims reputation; 4.4 Trustpilot |
| Superscript | Digital broker | quote-based | Monthly flex for variable pipelines; 4.5 Trustpilot |
| Kingsbridge / Qdos | Contractor specialists | quote-based | PSC/IR35-world packages |
Reviews and expert ratings
Superscript 4.5/5; Hiscox 4.4; AXA 4.3; Simply Business 4.2; Markel 4.0 (4.7 Feefo). Which?/Fairer Finance: not rated for commercial PI.
Key takeaway
Buy £1m PI before your first contract asks for it, read the insurance clause in every contract you sign, and keep cover continuous – the claims-made trap catches consultants who lapse between gigs. Then check your policy schedule actually names your specialism: "consultant" is what you are; the schedule is what you're covered as. Running a consulting firm with staff and associates? See our consultancy-firm guide – the exposures change.
Sources
- markeluk.com; axa.co.uk; simplybusiness.co.uk; suited.insure; hiscox.co.uk (verified pricing floors)
- trustmypolicy.com and nimblefins.co.uk PI cost analyses (2026)