Australian non-medical consultants can compare BizCover, ACS Financial, Professional Indemnity Plus and Professionals Australia by service model, eligibility and published policy detail, but none publishes enough information to choose on marketing claims alone.[6][7][8][9] 
Check what cover you must declare
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance helps cover legal action arising from professional advice or services, including alleged mistakes, neglect or contractual breaches causing client loss.[1]
- Licence or legal requirement: PI is mandatory for some professions. Requirements can depend on the profession, state or territory and licensing rules.[1]
- Client contract: a current or proposed contract may require PI and specify a minimum level of cover.[1][7]
- Association requirement: membership or a professional designation may carry an insurance condition.[1][7]
- Otherwise optional: where no legal, licensing, association or contractual rule applies, the decision depends on the risks arising from the professional services or advice provided.[1][7]
There is no single minimum in the supplied sources for all Australian non-medical consultants. Use the applicable licence conditions, association rules and client contracts to identify the required limit, covered activities and policy dates.[1]
Public liability is outside this comparison; ask separately if a contract also requires it.
Compare four professional indemnity options
BizCover
Service model: Select an occupation and cover, enter business details, compare available quotes and purchase online. Policy documents are delivered by email.[7]
Stated eligibility: Businesses and sole traders providing specialist advice or services. BizCover lists consultants and freelancers among the occupational groups it serves.[7]
Published product information: Examples of potentially covered matters include negligence, breach of duty, confidentiality or privacy breaches, defamation, unintentional intellectual-property infringement, failure to deliver services and claim-investigation costs. Actual cover is controlled by the partner insurer’s policy wording.[7]
ACS Financial
Service model: A broker offering General PI, Miscellaneous PI, Specific Profession PI, Design & Construction PI, Allied Health PI and Business Professionals PI pathways.[6]
Stated eligibility: Business Professionals PI targets strategic, financial and operational consultants or advisers. Other pathways cover stated groups including niche service providers, accountants, engineers, architects, construction professionals and allied-health practitioners.[6]
Published product information: General PI addresses negligence, errors or omissions, while Miscellaneous PI targets niche or emerging advisers and service providers.[6]
Professional Indemnity Plus
Service model: A broker-arranged service offering several quotation options for business-specific cover.[8]
Stated eligibility: Professionals seeking PI because of regulation, contractual obligations or asset-protection concerns.[8]
Published product information: The provider says it can access the “most competitive premium” and offers several quotation options; amounts and limits come with the quote.[8]
Professionals Australia/Austbrokers Countrywide
Service model: The Professionals Australia insurance option associated with Austbrokers Countrywide; ask how quotes are requested and accepted.[9]
Stated eligibility: Consulting professionals and engineering members.[9]
Published product information: Professionals Australia says PI is essential for most consulting or contracting work creating individual liability, and its page advertises “competitive rates” and “no excess”.[9]
Compare price and unresolved policy terms
- BizCover: online quotes from partner insurers; the premium, excess and limit depend on the insurer you select.[7]
- ACS Financial: quote-based broking across its PI pathways; ask for the limit and excess with each quote.[6]
- Professional Indemnity Plus: broker quotation with several options; ask for each option’s limit, excess and insurer.[8]
- Professionals Australia/Austbrokers Countrywide: advertises “competitive rates” and “no excess”; confirm the “no excess” term in the policy schedule.[9]
None of the four publishes taxes and fees, renewal, cooling-off, cancellation, waiting-period or geographic-scope terms on these pages, so collect them with the quote.[6][7][8][9]
Obtain a dated quote and the complete policy documents for the proposed insurer before comparing price, limits and conditions.
Choose an indemnity limit without guessing
Start with the highest minimum applying to the work under legislation, licensing conditions, association rules or client contracts. PI obligations and minimum limits are not universal across Australian professions.[1][7]
- Assess the exposure. Consider employee count, contract value, a credible worst-case claim and the consequences of underinsurance.[7]
- Estimate maximum potential liability. Focus on the financial consequences of a plausible service error rather than automatically matching the limit to annual fees or contract value.[1][7]
- Request more than one limit. Compare how each option changes the premium, excess, exclusions and other conditions.
Retain the rule or contract setting the minimum, the assumptions behind the selected limit, and the dated quote and policy wording.
Verify the insurer and intermediary
Ask the quote service or broker to identify, in writing, the intermediary arranging the cover and the general insurer issuing the policy.
- Insurer: search the insurer’s full legal name on APRA’s register of general insurers.[1]
- Intermediary: check the broker or other intermediary through ASIC’s professional register.[1]
- Documents: match the legal names and licensing details against the quote, invoice and policy documents. Resolve discrepancies before paying.
For businesses operating under an Australian financial services licence or a related financial-services arrangement, check whether ASIC’s RG 126 applies. ASIC says RG 126 was issued on 21 November 2024 and applies to AFS licensees, representatives, advisers and insurers; it should not be generalised to every consultant.[3]
These checks establish identity and licensing, not service quality or claims handling.
Check reporting, prior work and run-off
Ask the licensed broker to identify whether the offered PI policy is claims-made and what must be both claimed and notified during the policy period. Record the retroactive date, known-circumstances exclusion, any extended-reporting option and arrangements for run-off after stopping work or changing insurer. This is a comparison checklist; it does not assert identical terms across the four services.
Use the firm’s actual service descriptions and prior-work history. Require the proposed insurer to explain how an allegation arriving after a contract ends would be handled, with the controlling clause identified. A client contract’s insurance requirement is not proof that a particular policy meets it.
Check the quote and policy wording
- Insured activities: match the activities in the policy documents to the services in proposals, statements of work and client contracts. Confirm treatment of employees, subcontractors, prior work and services added during the policy period.
- Limit and costs: confirm the indemnity limit, sublimits, excess or deductible, and whether defence or investigation costs reduce the amount available for compensation.
- Exclusions: read the policy wording rather than relying on sales-page examples. BizCover lists intentional misconduct, refunds of professional fees, bankruptcy, contractual liabilities, fraud or dishonesty, and known circumstances or claims predating inception as typical exclusions.[7]
- Total price: obtain the exact premium, including taxes and fees.
- Claims and exit terms: confirm notification requirements, policy period, renewal, cooling-off, cancellation, refunds, waiting periods and geographic scope.
BizCover publishes a claims process involving a claims form, supporting information, assistance while the matter is managed with the insurer, and notification of the outcome.[7] Ask the other three providers to describe their claims process in writing.
Any condition needed for a client, regulator or association declaration should appear in writing. Compare options on whether they cover the declared services, meet the required limit, identify verifiable entities and provide acceptable wording and claims terms—not on premium alone.
References
- Types of business insurance | business.gov.au (business.gov.au)
- RG 126 Compensation and insurance arrangements for AFS licensees | ASIC (asic.gov.au)
- Professional Indemnity Insurance Companies (acsfinancial.com.au)
- Professional Indemnity Insurance Quotes | BizCover (bizcover.com.au)
- Professional Indemnity Plus (professionalindemnityplus.com.au)
- Insurance (professionalsaustralia.org.au)