General information only
This guide explains what published policy wordings say and what Australian law requires. It is general information, not advice, and it doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Policies differ, and wordings change: the PDS, policy wording and schedule for your own cover are the documents that count. The insurers quoted here are examples we could read in full; they are not necessarily on our panel.
The short answer
- For small consulting, bookkeeping and advice businesses, $1 million to $2 million of professional indemnity came back at about $550 to $1,900 a year.
- A real estate agency at $2 million was $1,986 to $3,069: the profession moves the price more than anything else.
- For the same consultant, $2 million cost 14% to 38% more than $1 million, and $5 million cost 32% to 64% more.
- For the same answers, the highest price on our panel was up to 2.6 times the lowest.
- These are annual premiums including GST, stamp duty and the insurer’s fee, before our broker fee.
What do professionals pay for professional indemnity?
Every row is one set of answers, priced by each insurer on our panel that would quote it, for professional indemnity on its own. These are prices the insurers returned in October and November 2026, not estimates, for businesses with no past claims or known circumstances.
| Profession, limit, fees, state | Price a year |
|---|---|
| Business consultant (advice only)$2m cover · $100,000 in fees · QLD | $549 to $1,3194 insurers priced it |
| Management consultant (advice only)$1m cover · $400,000 in fees · NSW | $603 to $1,5477 insurers priced it |
| Bookkeeper$1m cover · $250,000 in fees · NSW | $734 to $1,1873 insurers priced it |
| Business consultant (advice only)$1m cover · $500,000 in fees · NSW | $719 to $1,8584 insurers priced it |
| Real estate agent$2m cover · $500,000 in fees · NSW | $1,986 to $3,0693 insurers priced it |
Prices include GST, stamp duty and the insurer’s own fee, and exclude our broker fee. They are for the answers shown, on the dates priced; your work, fees, claims history and location will change them, and insurers change their rates.
How much more does $2 million or $5 million of professional indemnity cost?
Less than you might expect: $2 million cost 14% to 38% more than $1 million with the same insurer, and $5 million 32% to 64% more. To isolate the limit, we priced one management consultant in NSW ($400,000 in fees, no claims) three times on our panel in November 2026, changing nothing but the limit. Seven insurers priced all three.
| Limit | Price a year |
|---|---|
| $1 million | $603 to $1,5477 insurers |
| $2 million | $834 to $1,8467 insurers |
| $5 million | $979 to $2,1607 insurers |
Five times the cover was well under twice the price. The order of insurers barely moved: the cheapest at $1 million was the cheapest at $5 million too.
What changes the price of professional indemnity?
- What you do. The biggest factor. Insurers price each profession on its claims record: advice that moves a client’s money or property (real estate, finance, engineering) costs more than general business advice, which is why the agency above sits well above the consultants at the same limit.
- Your fees. PI is usually rated on fee income, not turnover from goods. More fees usually means more clients and more advice to go wrong.
- The limit you choose. See the table above and the next section.
- Claims and circumstances. A past claim, or something you know could lead to one, usually raises the price or sends the quote to an underwriter. All the prices on this page are for businesses with neither.
- How long you have held cover. PI is claims-made, so continuous cover and its retroactive date matter. Our guide to claims-made cover and run-off explains why.
- The excess. A higher excess usually lowers the premium a little. Insurers set different excesses for the same limit, so compare it beside the price.
How much professional indemnity cover do you need?
Professional indemnity is commonly bought at $1 million, $2 million or $5 million. Often the number is set for you: client contracts, government supplier panels, professional bodies and some licences state a minimum, and the agreement or rule will say which. Without a requirement, the question is how large a loss your advice could cause a client, plus the legal costs of defending it.
A client who asks for the cover will usually want proof, which is a certificate of currency from the insurer.
Why does the same business get very different prices?
For identical answers, our consultant was $603 with one insurer and $1,547 with another at $1 million, 2.6 times as much. Each insurer has its own appetite (the professions it wants to write), its own claims experience and its own way of rating, and many write PI through a specialist underwriting agency with its own scheme for each profession.
The cover differs too. PI wordings vary more than most: the excess, whether defence costs sit inside the limit, the retroactive date and the exclusions for your work are all in each insurer’s PDS, so the cheapest price is not automatically the like-for-like one. Gary prices professional indemnity with more than one insurer in a single form, and shows the PDS beside each price.
What’s included in a professional indemnity price?
- The base premium: the insurer’s charge for the risk.
- GST: 10%.
- Stamp duty: a state tax on the premium, which varies by state.
- The insurer’s fee: some insurers add a policy fee.
- The broker fee: what a broker charges for arranging it. Gary shows its fee before you pay.
Not sure PI is the cover you need? Our guide to professional indemnity vs public liability explains what each is for, and how much is public liability insurance has the same real-price tables for public liability, and how much is management liability insurance for claims against a company’s directors. To see what PI covers, go to professional indemnity insurance.
See your own price, not an average
One online form, more than one insurer pricing it, and the PDS beside every price.
Questions people ask about the cost of professional indemnity
How much is professional indemnity insurance in Australia?
For the small professional businesses we priced, $1 million to $2 million of professional indemnity came back between about $550 and $1,900 a year, and a real estate agency at $2 million was $1,986 to $3,069. The price depends on the profession, the fees, the limit, the claims history and the insurer.
How much is professional indemnity insurance for a consultant?
A NSW management consultant earning $400,000 in fees, with no claims, was priced by seven insurers at $603 to $1,547 a year for $1 million of cover, $834 to $1,846 for $2 million and $979 to $2,160 for $5 million. A Queensland consultant earning $100,000 was $549 to $1,319 for $2 million.
How much is $1 million professional indemnity insurance?
For the businesses we priced at $1 million, it came back at $603 to $1,858 a year: a bookkeeper on $250,000 in fees at $734 to $1,187, and consultants on $400,000 to $500,000 at $603 to $1,858. Fees and the type of work move it most.
How much is $2 million professional indemnity insurance?
The same NSW consultant cost $834 to $1,846 a year at $2 million, which was 14% to 38% more than $1 million with the same insurer. A Queensland consultant on $100,000 in fees was $549 to $1,319, and a real estate agency on $500,000 was $1,986 to $3,069.
Why is the cheapest professional indemnity quote not always the best one?
Professional indemnity wordings differ more than most covers: the excess, whether defence costs sit inside or on top of the limit, the retroactive date and the exclusions for your kind of work all vary. Compare those in each insurer’s PDS, not only the price.
Can I pay for professional indemnity monthly?
Many policies can be paid monthly through premium funding, which is a loan for the annual premium and usually costs a little more in total than paying once. The prices on this page are annual premiums.
Is professional indemnity insurance tax deductible?
Insurance premiums for a business are generally a deductible business expense. Whether and how it applies to you is a question for your accountant; this is general information, not tax advice.
Is this advice for me?
No. The prices here are real examples for specific answers, not a quote for your business, and this guide is general information. It doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Read the PDS for any cover you are considering.
More plain-English reading in Gary’s guides.
Important
This guide is general information only and is not personal advice. It doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It summarises published documents as they stood when we read them; insurers change their wordings, and a policy’s schedule and endorsements can change how its wording applies. Quotations are reproduced for commentary and are accurate to the versions listed. Before deciding on any cover, read the PDS, policy wording and Target Market Determination for that product. Gary is not suggesting any of the insurers named is, or isn’t, right for your business.
Want to see what professional indemnity cover costs you?
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