Providing advice and designing systems is part of your role as an electrician. And we’d like to think that the majority of the time you get things right without issue, but what about the time when something isn’t quite right? And the advice that you’ve given has cost your client a significant sum of money? Without the correct cover in place, the legal and compensation costs will be coming out of your pocket. Whereas with an active Professional Indemnity Insurance, your business is protected from financial loss and fees and compensation owed to your client are covered – up to your chosen level of cover.
Key points
Professional Indemnity Insurance protects your business if a claim is made against your business as a result of poor advice or design.
It's separate from Public Liability Insurance. Public Liability Insurance covers injury and property damage. Professional Indemnity Insurance covers financial loss caused by your professional judgement.
NAPIT and NICEIC accreditation require Professional Indemnity Insurance.
Professional Indemnity Insurance (PI) protects your business should a client claim financial loss as a result of professional negligence on your part.
Did you know: PI works on a claims-made basis, which means you need a policy in place when the claim is made, not the one you held when you did the job. If a client raises an issue with work you carried out two years ago, you'll need a live policy in place now for it to be covered.
Electrical work increasingly involves more than fitting and testing. Many electricians design circuits, specify equipment, calculate loads, and issue certificates that clients and other professionals rely on. Professional Indemnity Insurance means:
You're covered for the cost of defending a claim, even if it turns out to be unfounded.
You can take on larger, more technical contracts with confidence, including work for architects, developers, or commercial clients who often ask for it as standard.
You look more credible to clients who check what cover you hold before awarding work.
Active cover is required for accreditations like NAPIT and NICEIC
Rhino's Professional Indemnity Insurance covers your legal liability arising from negligent acts, errors or omissions in the course of providing professional services, along with the associated legal costs of defending a claim. Cover sits at an aggregate limit shown on your schedule, with an excess of £1,000 per claim.
It's designed to cover financial loss caused by your advice or professional judgement, not physical damage or injury, which is why it works alongside Public Liability Insurance rather than replacing it. If you're not sure how the two fit together for your trade, our guide to what cover a self-employed electrician needs breaks it down.
A few scenarios where Professional Indemnity Insurance for electricians earns its keep:
An incorrect EICR. You certify an installation as satisfactory. Later, a fault emerges that should have been picked up, and the client makes a claim against your business claims for the cost of putting it right.
A design or load calculation error. You specify a consumer unit or cable sizing that turns out to be wrong for the load, and the client incurs costs correcting it before completion.
Advice given outside the install itself. A client relies on your recommendation about compliance with regulations, and it turns out to be incorrect.
These are different from the kind of incidents covered under Public Liability Insurance, such as accidentally damaging a client's property while on site. If you want to see how those claims typically play out, take a look at our public liability insurance claims examples.
If you're registered with a competent person scheme such as NAPIT or NICEIC, you are required to have certain levels of insurance to keep your accreditation valid – Professional Indemnity Insurance is one of those. Our guide to NAPIT and NICEIC insurance requirements covers what to look out for.
This depends on the size and type of work you take on, and Rhino’s cover starts at £250,000. A domestic rewire carries different exposure to a commercial design-and-install contract, and larger clients or main contractors will sometimes specify a minimum limit in their contract terms. Should your contracts grow in scale or value, you may want to review your limit of indemnity to make sure it still reflects the work you're doing. As a non-advisory broker, we can't tell you what level to pick, but we can talk you through the options so you can make an informed choice. Just give us a call on 0116 243 7904.
Professional Indemnity Insurance rarely stands alone. Most electricians pair it with:
Public Liability Insurance: to protect your business should you cause injury to a member of the public or cause damage to third-party property caused while carrying out work.
Employers' Liability Insurance: a legal requirement if you employ anyone, including casual labour or apprentices, protecting your business if an employee makes a claim against you in the event of them falling ill or being injured as a result of working for you.
Tools in Transit Insurance: protecting your tools whilst stored in your vehicle, even when left overnight.
Read more about how these fit together for your trade in our guide to electrician insurance.
Ensuring that your business is adequately protected can be one of the smartest decisions you make. Working in the trades has plenty of risks so protecting yourself against them can make a significant difference to your business’ finances should something untoward happen.
Rhino offers cover for Public Liability Insurance, Professional Indemnity Insurance and Employers’ Liability Insurance, helping to cover your NAPIT and NICEIC accreditation requirements. As well as that, you can protect your business with Tools in Transit Insurance, should your tools be stolen (over 80% of Rhino customers know someone who has been victim to tool theft), as well as Personal Accident Insurance and Income Protection Insurance, helping to keep your personal finances ticking over should you be forced off work.
Get yourself a quote, or give us a call on 0116 243 7904 to speak to a member of the team.
Electricians who certify, design or advise on installations carry a risk that Public Liability Insurance doesn't touch: getting the advice wrong. This guide explains what Professional Indemnity Insurance covers, when electricians need it, and how it works alongside NAPIT and NICEIC accreditation.
Yes, so long as you tell your insurer the number of employees who require cover. Public Liability Insurance covers your employees if they damage a third party's property or injure a member of the public while doing their job for you, but only if you've added them to your policy.
Have you ever walked away from site absolutely sure in your mind that everything was secure and good to go? That's how one of our customers left site as well until later that evening he got a call from a customer telling him otherwise...
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