The drawing was right. Ten years later.
Cover for architectural and design practices, built around a liability that can surface long after the building is finished and the fee is spent.
Architect insurance
Usually includes
Professional indemnity
Design liability
Cyber & data
Public liability
Employers’ liability
Studio & contents
One
conversation.
You explain the business once, and we take it from there.
Bespoke service
for your business
No two businesses are the same, so we start with yours rather than with a template.
Everything
quoted together.
Your advice, the data you hold and the office behind it, priced in one go rather than piece by piece.
Know your cover
What is architect insurance?
Design liability is unusual because it does not expire when the project does. A defect can surface years after practical completion, and the claim arrives when the drawings are archived and the people who did the work have moved on. Cover is built around professional indemnity written for design, with the appointment terms and any collateral warranties as much a part of the risk as the design itself.
It covers the design
Professional indemnity responds to a claim that your design, specification or certification caused a loss.
It covers the long tail
Claims can arrive years after completion, which is why continuous cover matters more here than almost anywhere.
It follows the appointment
What you signed up to do, and to what standard, shapes whether a claim is covered at all.
Who it’s for
Whatever you design.
✓
Architectural practices
Full-service practices working from feasibility through to completion.
✓
Architectural technologists
Technical design and production information, often working to another practice’s concept.
✓
Interior design practices
Fit-out and specification work, including fire performance of materials.
✓
Landscape architects
External works, drainage and planting design with their own defect profile.
✓
Design and access consultants
Planning, heritage and access work where the advice is the deliverable.
✓
Sole practitioners and small studios
Independent architects contracting directly with clients.
What we cover
Cover built around your appointments.
We ask what you design, at what value and under what appointment before we approach anyone. Then show you what’s available, and you decide what fits.
Professional indemnity
The claim that your design, specification or certification caused a loss.
Design liability
The part of professional indemnity that responds to the drawing rather than the advice around it.
Cyber & data
Models, drawings and the common data environment a project runs on.
Public liability
Injury or damage caused during site visits and inspections.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, including architectural assistants and students on placement.
Studio & contents
The studio, the fit-out, the plan chest and the models and samples in it.
Portable equipment
Laptops, cameras, survey equipment and everything that leaves the studio for a site visit.
Business interruption
The fees lost when the studio, the servers or the model files stop being available.
Legal expenses
Fee recovery, appointment disputes and the cost of defending a claim.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by practices whose deliverable is a design, from a sole practitioner to a studio with a project team. Not every part will apply to every practice, so tell us how you’re set up and we’ll show you what’s relevant.
Worth knowing
Check the details before you choose.
Your professional body may set requirements
Registration and membership rules can specify a minimum limit, a policy wording or run-off terms. Tell us which body you are registered with and what it asks for.
Fitness for purpose can void the cover
Professional indemnity responds to a failure to exercise reasonable skill and care. Sign up to guarantee an outcome instead, and a claim can fall outside the policy entirely.
Collateral warranties widen who can sue
Giving a warranty to a funder, a purchaser or a tenant adds parties who can bring a claim. Tell us what you have signed and to whom.
The tail outlasts the practice
Claims arrive years after completion, so continuous cover and run-off on closure matter more here than in almost any other profession.
Every project is different.
A domestic extension and a residential block don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Architectural design
Architectural technology
Interior design
Landscape architecture
Feasibility studies
Planning applications
Heritage and conservation
Contract administration
Building regulations
Fit-out design
Residential design
Commercial design
Education projects
Healthcare projects
BIM and CDE
Design and build
Architectural design
Architectural technology
Interior design
Landscape architecture
Feasibility studies
Planning applications
Heritage and conservation
Contract administration
Building regulations
Fit-out design
Residential design
Commercial design
Education projects
Healthcare projects
BIM and CDE
Design and build
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
The appointment is the exposure
What you agreed to do, and to what standard, matters as much as what you drew. We read the appointment before we present the risk.
02
Fitness for purpose is the clause to find
It is the clause most likely to put a claim outside cover, and it appears in construction contracts routinely. We look for it before we present the risk.
03
The tail is long
Design claims surface years later. Continuity of cover and run-off are part of the conversation, not an afterthought.
04
We present the risk right
Fee income, project types, contract values, warranties and claims history. How it’s framed changes what you pay.
You talk to a person. The machines do the typing.
Free review of your architect cover and costs.
On a policy that treats design like general advice? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
We go through the policy you have now, so you can see what it does and doesn’t cover against a claim years after a project completes, when the practice may look very different.
We point out the terms that catch architects out most often, how collateral warranties widen who can sue you beyond the original client, so you can check yours.
We approach insurers on our panel who write architect and design practice risks, and come back with what they’ll offer.
We explain each option in plain English, including what it doesn’t cover.
If it’s not a risk we can place, we’ll tell you straight away rather than leave you waiting.
No obligation to switch. You decide what fits.
Rather not wait? Call us on 0333 091 3663
Good to know
Architect insurance questions, answered straight.
What insurance does an architectural practice need?
Does my professional body decide what cover I need?
Why does fitness for purpose matter so much?
What are collateral warranties doing to my risk?
How long am I exposed after a project completes?
Am I covered for work I did before this policy started?
Does certification change the exposure?
Do I need cover if I only do domestic extensions?
Vara Commercial Insurance · 0333 091 3663
Vara is a trading name of Koral AI Operating Company Limited. Vara is an appointed representative of Innovative Risk Labs Ltd, under Firm Reference Number 1060955. Innovative Risk Labs Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under FRN 609155. We are registered in England and Wales under Registered Company Number 17256222. Registered office: 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.