PI insurance level recommendation.

Professional indemnity (PI) insurance protects against claims of negligence in professional services. Architects, engineers, consultants, accountants, IT service providers all carry PI. Recommended cover: 3x annual fee income or 5x largest contract, whichever higher. Claims history adjustment: prior claims typically push recommended cover 50% higher.

200,000 annual fee income × 3 = 600,000. 150,000 largest contract × 5 = 750,000. Pick higher: 750,000. If claims history exists, multiply by 1.5 = 1.125M. Typical PI premium: 0.5-2% of cover amount. 750k cover might cost 3-7k/year for established consultant.

PI is often mandated by professional bodies or client contracts. Architects: ARB mandates minimum 250k. Accountants: ICAEW requires 100k+. IT consulting contracts typically require 2-5M cover. Check professional body requirements and common client contract requirements before selecting cover level.

A worked example

Try the defaults: annual fee income of 200,000, largest single contract of 150,000, prior claims of 0. The tool returns 750,000.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Annual Fee Income, Largest Single Contract, and Prior Claims (count). Not every input has equal weight. Flip one at a time toward extreme values to feel which ones move the needle most for your situation.

The formula behind this

Cover = max(3 × fee income, 5 × largest contract) × (1.5 if claims history else 1). Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

Using this as a check-in

Re-run this every three months. A single reading tells you where you stand; four readings tell you whether things are improving. The trend matters more than any individual snapshot.

What this doesn't capture

The score is a composite of the inputs you provide. Life context — job security, family obligations, health, housing — doesn't appear in the math but shapes the real picture. Use the number as a prompt, not a verdict.