RICS changes to PII Requirements


Make sure you're up to date with the latest changes to RICS Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) Cover

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A consultation held in February 2025 proposed PII changes for RICS firms in the UK and Ireland. The proposals aimed to enhance transparency, consistency and consumer protection while also helping firms manage their liabilities effectively and focused on a number of identified issues:

  • Moving cover back to an ‘any one claim’ basis as a minimum where during Covid ‘aggregate plus unlimited reinstatements’ had become the minimum. The premise for this proposal was that the PII market had stabilised with the number of insurers increasing from 36 in 2020 to 45
  • Clarification of cancellation provisions from several angles:
    • In the event of non-payment of the premium (thankfully a rare event for RICS members)
    • Cancellation requests by RICS firms
    • Insurers obligation to notify RICS of an intention to cancel a policy
  • Consumer run-off cover provisions which had been in place since 2019
  • Fire safety provisions

Changes have now been made to the Minimum Terms wording from 1 July 2025.

Any one claim coverage – the existing approach allowing both ‘any one claim’ and ‘aggregate with reinstatements’ cover is to continue due to concerns at potential insurance market volatility.

Cancellation of PII policies by insurers - A new two stage process applies for cancellation for non-payment of premium to ensure fair notice and continued protection during the notice period.

Cancellation of PII policies by RICS regulated firms - A new process will allow cancellation with 30 days’ notice in certain situations as long as replacement cover is in place.

Notification to RICS of policy cancellation - The notice period for insurers to inform RICS of cancellation increases from five working days to 30 calendar days to give more time for all.

Consumer run-off protection - 6 years run-off cover will apply where payment or part payment of the premium has been made. This feature applies specifically to consumer run-off and regulated firms should understand that business to business run-off cover must be purchased separately. The change is anticipated to enhance consumer protection.

Fire safety - The policy wording is being clarified to address insurer concerns and avoid confusion. This includes definition changes being revised to explicitly include internal fire safety components and an update to fire safety coverage to relate specifically to negligent acts, errors, or omissions. RICS will continue to monitor market and regulatory developments relating to this feature.

What Might This Mean for PII Market Conditions?

It is a little early to speculate but the PII market for RICS firms is highly reactive and sensitive to changing legal exposures.

One of the most contentious issues is possibly the 6-year run-off cover requirement for consumers where only part payment of the premium has been made. If economic conditions should result in more RICS firms closing resulting in insurers having to provide ongoing cover in situations where they have been unable to collect full payment, we would expect to see insurers react.

The Fire Safety cover clarification is a welcome move and with time we should see more improvement in the scope of cover for these risks.

Cancellations provisions will be helpful to some firms who should have a little more time to secure the best possible PII terms and avoid being pressured into higher priced options.

What Should RICS Firms Do?

RICS firms would be wise to engage with specialist insurance brokers as early as possible prior to next renewal to ensure that the impact of the changes is understood.

Engaging early will also allow more time for market exploration as the changes will be viewed in a variety of way by Insurers and you should avoid being caught out.

If you haven’t looked around in the market for a while or challenged your current insurance broker, now is an ideal time to benchmark their offering. Even your current insurer could be persuaded to improve their quotation by a change of broker, so you do not necessarily need to lose continuity if you have been satisfied with your insurers service.

How Can Ntegrity Help?

Ntegrity is a professional indemnity specialist insurance broker with some of the most experienced advisers in the market.

We have wide market access and work with leading insurers as well as some newer entrants. We nurture strong, long-standing market relationships, enabling us to deliver highly competitive premiums and tailored cover designed to meet the unique challenges faced by surveying firms today.

How we can help:

  • Access specialist insurers to fit your needs
  • Competitive terms, even for higher-risk or complex work
  • RICS approved wordings
  • Claims support that works for you to ensure we get the right result
  • Guidance on managing claims exposure and risk
  • Personalised service from a PI specialist with a deep understanding of RICS firms
  • Cyber exposure support including free personalised Cyber Risk Assessment report to help identify your exposures

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