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Planning Consultants Professional Indemnity
Get cover from the RTPI’s preferred PII broker
Trusted protection for planners’ professional risks
Clients trust you to get it right, but mistakes can happen to even the most skilled and careful planning consultant.
Professional indemnity insurance, or PII, offers essential protection for your consultancy services. It's there to cover legal costs and compensation if a client accuses you of negligence or errors in your work.
We've been providing specialist insurance broking and risk management services to town planners and planning consultants for three decades.
And we're proud to be the preferred broker for the Royal Town Planning Institute's (RTPI) members' PII.
What does professional indemnity insurance cover?
PII helps cover the cost of defending yourself and compensation awarded if you’re accused of causing your client financial or reputational loss through mistakes in your work. That might be reporting errors or missed deadlines, for example.
Broadly, the type of claims covered can include:
- Negligence or breach of duty of care
- Defamation
- Confidentiality breaches
- Misrepresentation
- Intellectual property infringements
We can also negotiate optional extensions for other risks, such as breach of contract or libel and slander.
Do planning consultants need professional indemnity insurance?
Whatever your firm’s size and turnover, things can go wrong when you supply services to clients. So it makes sense to consider PII as a planning professional, because it covers legal costs and compensation awarded if a client accuses you of negligence.
Clients may also insist you have a certain level of PII in contracts, so it can help you secure work.
It's mandatory to have appropriate PI cover if you are a member of professional bodies such as the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT).
Our brokers place fully RTPI compliant cover that meets (and exceeds) its minimum terms.
Why planning consultants choose us
We work hard to find our clients competitive, straightforward and compliant cover, with:
- The latest RTPI compliant wordings
- Interest-free instalments
- No excess payable
- Six year run-off provision
- AA (very strong) S&P rated insurers
To make your life easier, we also offer:
- A quick quote process and minimal form filling
- Optional add-ons for a comprehensive policy built around your risks
- Expertise on other business insurance you might need
- Guidance on risk management best practice
- Access to free business support, including 24/7 legal and counselling advice lines
We have dedicated PII teams in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, and Perth, ready to help.
My account handler and the rest of the Howden team are a pleasure to work with. In particular, they are responsive and always act professionally. I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone who needs a helpful insurance broker.
Claims you can count on
We have one of the largest in-house claims teams in the PII market.
That’s over 40 experienced lawyers and senior claims specialists on hand to advise and support you on notifications and claims.
Tell us as soon as you’re aware of an incident, because the sooner we know, the sooner we can help.
Planners professional indemnity FAQs
Many sectors have seen significant PII premium increases over the last few years, with construction particularly affected. Despite tough market conditions, we’ve worked hard to shield RTPI members from premium hikes.
Increases as businesses grow or change are expected, but our relationship with the RTPI scheme provider – and their expert knowledge of the market – has meant little or no premium increase for RTPI members over the last four to five years.
We can support you with your renewal preparations, including risk management advice that may help lower your premium. Talk to us ahead of time where possible (we’ll be in touch ahead of renewal) about how you can best prepare. But whenever you get in touch we will do all we can to get the most competitive terms for your cover.
You’ll want a level of PI cover that’s right for your consultancy’s risks, meets the requirements of membership bodies, and is in line with the contracts you take on.
For example, you could consider:
- What are the potential maximum claims for the type of work you do?
- What is your role, and what are your responsibilities in projects?
- If you are appointing other professionals, are you are liable for errors they may make?
Also consider whether your people and cash flow are enough to put major errors right, or if you need a higher level of cover to plug the gap.
There can be a lot to consider, so if you’re not sure how much cover you need, we'll be on hand to advise you.
The price insurers offer you depends on factors individual to you and your business.
These include:
- The number of clients you have
- The type of work you take on
- How many employees are at your firm
- Your claims history
- The level cover you’re asking for
We'll work hard to get the most competitive premium we can for the risks you face.
You’ll usually need PII to run for six years after you retire or stop trading, in line with RPTI rules. This is because claims can be made years after an incident happens, even if you’re no longer practising.
PII policies are written on a claims-made basis, so they cover you for the period when claims are made, rather than when the incident happened. If you continue any planning work, even if it’s for free, you will need PI cover that is more extensive than run off.
They cover different risks. Public liability insurance covers claims made by a member of the public if they’re injured or ill, or if their property is damaged, because of your business.
Professional indemnity insurance covers accusations of professional negligence made by clients or third parties you’ve supplied services to.
You provided an excellent service from start to finish. I will be using you again when I renew next year.
