RICS and Property Professionals
Daines Kapp are named on RICS’s website as one of the few brokers in the UK as having specific experience in the placement of professional indemnity insurances for businesses and individuals whom are members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, ensuring your policy meets the minimum standards set out by the professional body.
Quick Summary
- Mandatory requirement: Professional indemnity insurance is compulsory for all RICS-regulated firms and individuals, and must comply with minimum terms and conditions set by RICS as a condition of membership
- What it covers: PI protects against claims arising from professional errors, omissions, or negligent advice in surveying, valuation, building consultancy, project management, and related property disciplines
- RICS-approved wordings: RICS-specific policy wordings provide broader coverage than standard PI policies and are required to demonstrate compliance when renewing RICS membership
- Specialist placement: Daines Kapp places RICS and property professional PI through a specialist panel of insurers with experience of property sector claims and RICS compliance requirements
Daines Kapp has been arranging professional indemnity and combined liability insurance for RICS-regulated surveyors and property professionals for over 30 years. We are a named broker on the RICS panel and have extensive experience placing cover for sole practitioners, small partnerships, and multi-disciplinary practices with fee incomes from £50,000 to in excess of £15m. Whether you are a chartered surveyor, valuer, building surveyor, project manager, property manager, or planning consultant, we understand the specific risk profile of property professional work and the insurance requirements set by your professional body.
Why Property Professionals Need Specialist Insurance Broking
Property professionals carry a broad and often underestimated range of liabilities. A negligent valuation can expose a surveyor to claims from lenders and purchasers running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. A project management error can give rise to contractual losses far exceeding the original fee. A building surveyor who misses a structural defect faces claims from homebuyers that may span years before resolution. Standard SME professional indemnity policies designed for IT consultants or management advisors frequently contain property-specific exclusions or inadequate retroactive cover that leaves practitioners exposed on work they completed years earlier. We work exclusively with insurers and Lloyd’s markets that have genuine appetite for property professional risks and understand the claims environment.
Insurance Cover for RICS Members and Property Professionals
| Cover | What It Covers | Daines Kapp Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Indemnity | Claims arising from negligent advice, surveys, valuations, reports, or project management — including legal defence costs, damages, and claimant costs awarded against you | We place cover on a claims-made basis with adequate retroactive cover dating back to your first day of practice, and confirm the policy wording meets RICS mandatory insurance requirements |
| Public Liability | Third-party claims for bodily injury or property damage arising from your business activities — including site visits, client meetings, and physical inspections of properties | Combined with PI as a package or placed independently; we confirm limits meet the requirements of your principal contractors and client contracts |
| Employers’ Liability | Statutory cover for employees, workers, and labour-only contractors injured in the course of employment — compulsory for any practice with staff | Minimum £5 million as required by law; we ensure correct classification of associates, consultants, and part-time staff at inception |
| Directors’ & Officers’ Liability | Personal liability of practice directors and partners for alleged wrongful acts in the management of the firm — including regulatory investigations, disqualification proceedings, and shareholder claims | Particularly important for RICS-regulated practices subject to disciplinary proceedings and regulatory enquiries from the RICS Standards and Regulation Board |
| Cyber and Data Protection | Cover for data breaches, ransomware attacks, cyber extortion, and third-party claims arising from unauthorised disclosure of client data — including ICO notification costs | Property practices hold significant client financial data and are an increasingly attractive target for cyber attacks; we ensure the cyber policy complements rather than duplicates PI cover |
| Run-off Cover | Professional indemnity cover for claims made after a practice ceases trading or a surveyor retires — RICS requires run-off cover to be maintained for a minimum of six years post-cessation | We arrange run-off policies at competitive rates for retiring surveyors and winding-up practices, ensuring RICS obligations are met without unnecessarily high run-off loading |
Who We Help
We provide insurance for the full range of property professionals including: chartered surveyors (general practice, residential, commercial, and rural); building surveyors and structural engineers providing condition reports and schedules of dilapidations; valuers providing RICS Red Book valuations for lending, probate, and matrimonial purposes; property managers and managing agents; project managers and employer’s agents on construction projects; planning consultants and heritage specialists; and party wall surveyors. We also place cover for multi-disciplinary firms that combine surveying with architecture, structural engineering, or quantity surveying under a single programme. Our experience extends to firms working in specialist areas including cladding inspections and EWS1 assessments, contaminated land assessments, energy performance certificate provision, and historic buildings consultancy — areas where standard market insurers often apply restrictive endorsements or exclusions.
Why Choose Daines Kapp for Property Professional Insurance?
As a named broker on the RICS panel, we have a deep understanding of the mandatory minimum insurance requirements for RICS-regulated firms and the consequences of failing to maintain compliant cover. We review your practice’s scope of work carefully at each renewal — including any new service lines, geographic expansion, or changes in fee income — and ensure that the policy declared activities and indemnity limits remain accurate. Where fee incomes are growing or the practice has taken on higher-value instructions, we proactively review limits of indemnity and ensure that the aggregated exposure of the practice is properly insured. Our claims handling support means that when a complaint or claim arises, we help you navigate the notification process, liaise with your insurer’s panel solicitors, and represent your interests throughout. Early notification and correct handling of potential claims is critical in professional indemnity, and our experience in this class means we can guide you through the process without inadvertently prejudicing cover.
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Frequently Asked Questions About RICS and Property Professional Insurance
What are the RICS mandatory professional indemnity requirements?
RICS requires all regulated firms to maintain professional indemnity insurance that meets its minimum standards. The minimum indemnity limit varies by firm size and annual fee income. RICS reviews these thresholds periodically — you can always find the current requirements on the RICS professional indemnity page. The insurance must be placed on a claims-made basis, with an adequate retroactive date covering all prior work. RICS also specifies minimum policy conditions including the scope of cover for civil liability and the run-off obligations. We review your current policy against RICS requirements at each renewal and confirm compliance in writing.
What is the difference between professional indemnity and public liability for surveyors?
Professional indemnity (PI) covers claims arising from your professional advice, opinions, reports, and services — for example, a client who suffers financial loss because your valuation was wrong, or a building owner who incurs remediation costs because your survey failed to identify a defect. Public liability (PL) covers physical injury or property damage caused by your business activities — for example, if you accidentally damage a property during an inspection, or a client is injured at your office. Both covers are important, but PI is the primary concern for most property professionals because the values involved in professional negligence claims typically far exceed those in physical damage claims. We place both as part of a combined programme wherever possible.
Does RICS require fully retroactive professional indemnity cover?
Yes. Under the RICS mandatory PI requirements, all regulated firms must maintain fully retroactive cover — meaning the policy carries no retroactive date and responds to claims arising from work completed at any point in the past, however long ago. This is a more demanding standard than ordinary PI insurance, where insurers typically set a retroactive date at the point the firm was founded or first insured. For RICS members, switching insurer at renewal does not reduce historical protection — the incoming policy must still respond to all prior work. There is one exception introduced from 1 July 2024: cover for fire safety claims on buildings of five or more storeys may be subject to a retroactive date of 1 July 2024, in line with the RICS fire safety exclusion framework. Outside of this specific exception, fully retroactive cover is a non-negotiable requirement for all RICS-regulated practices.
Do I need run-off cover when I retire or close my practice?
Yes. RICS requires regulated firms to maintain professional indemnity insurance on a run-off basis for a minimum of six years after the practice ceases trading or the regulated individual retires. Run-off cover responds to claims made after cessation for work carried out before the firm closed. Without it, you are personally exposed to claims that arise from work done years earlier. Run-off premiums are typically a multiple of the annual in-force premium, often between 1.5x and 3x depending on the insurer and the risk profile of the firm. We arrange run-off cover as part of our service to retiring surveyors and closing practices, and negotiate the loading with insurers who understand the low-risk nature of a practice that is no longer generating new liabilities.
Can Daines Kapp place cover for a surveyor who has had a claim?
Yes. A prior claim does not automatically prevent you from obtaining professional indemnity insurance, though it will be a material fact that must be disclosed to prospective insurers. The impact on your renewal terms depends on the nature of the claim, how it was resolved, what practice changes you have made in response, and the overall claims history of the firm. We prepare a thorough claims narrative that presents the circumstances of prior claims in the most accurate and favourable context, and approach insurers who are experienced in underwriting property professional practices with prior claims rather than those who will simply decline. In some cases, an excess loading or specific exclusion may be applied; we negotiate these terms and advise on whether the resulting cover remains adequate for your needs.
