A lender advanced money on your number.
Cover for surveying and valuation practices, where the claim usually arrives from whoever relied on the figure rather than from the person who paid for it.
Surveyor insurance
Usually includes
Professional indemnity
Valuation exposure
Public liability
Cyber & data
Employers’ liability
Office & 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 surveyor insurance?
Valuation is the highest-frequency professional indemnity claim in this profession, and the reason is reliance: a lender, a purchaser or a trustee acts on a figure and loses money when the figure turns out to be wrong. Cover is built around professional indemnity written for valuation, with public liability behind it because the work involves climbing on other people’s buildings.
It covers the report
Professional indemnity responds to a claim that your survey, valuation or advice caused a loss.
It covers reliance
The claim often comes from a lender or purchaser who relied on the figure, not from your client.
It covers the site work
Public liability for inspections, roof access and everything that happens on somebody else’s property.
Who it’s for
Whatever you inspect.
✓
Residential valuers
Mortgage valuations and homebuyer reports, frequently on a lender panel.
✓
Building surveyors
Condition surveys, defect diagnosis, schedules of dilapidation and party wall work.
✓
Commercial valuers
Investment and asset valuations relied on for lending, accounts or transactions.
✓
Quantity surveyors and cost consultants
Cost planning, valuations for payment and final account work.
✓
Property and asset managers
Managing property for owners, with client money and repair decisions attached.
✓
Sole practitioners and small practices
Independent surveyors working direct and on panels.
What we cover
Cover built around your instructions.
We ask what you survey or value, for whom and on whose panel before we approach anyone. Then show you what’s available, and you decide what fits.
Professional indemnity
The claim that your survey, valuation or report caused a client or a lender a loss.
Valuation exposure
The part of the cover that answers for a figure somebody lent or bought on.
Public liability
Injury or damage arising from inspections, roof access and work on occupied property.
Cyber & data
Client and property data, and the payment diverted after a convincing email.
Employers’ liability
Required by law from your first employee, including anyone who only ever works on site.
Office & contents
The office, the fit-out, and the reports and instruments stored there.
Portable equipment
Laser measures, moisture meters, cameras, drones and laptops out on inspection.
Business interruption
The fees lost when your office or your systems stop working.
Legal expenses
Recovering unpaid fees, a panel dispute, and defending a challenge to a valuation.
Who this cover tends to suit.
This cover is generally bought by surveying and valuation practices, from a sole practitioner on lender panels to a firm with a survey team and a property management arm. 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.
Panel appointments set their own terms
Lender and institutional panels commonly specify a minimum limit of indemnity and terms they will accept. Tell us whose panels you are on and what they require.
The claimant may not be your client
A lender or purchaser relying on your report can bring a claim directly. Who can rely on what you produce is worth establishing before you issue it.
Valuation is the frequency risk
It produces more professional indemnity claims in this profession than anything else, and it is rated accordingly. The split of your fee income matters.
How you inspect at height forms part of the risk
How you inspect at height, and whether you fly, both affect the liability side as well as the equipment cover.
Every instruction is different.
A mortgage valuation and a schedule of dilapidations don’t carry the same risk, so we ask different questions for each.
Residential valuation
Mortgage valuation
Homebuyer reports
Building surveys
Condition surveys
Defect diagnosis
Party wall
Dilapidations
Commercial valuation
Asset valuation
Quantity surveying
Cost consultancy
Project monitoring
Expert witness
Property management
Panel work
Residential valuation
Mortgage valuation
Homebuyer reports
Building surveys
Condition surveys
Defect diagnosis
Party wall
Dilapidations
Commercial valuation
Asset valuation
Quantity surveying
Cost consultancy
Project monitoring
Expert witness
Property management
Panel work
Why Vara
Bespoke service for you & your business,
without the big-firm minimum.
01
Reliance is the exposure
The claim usually comes from whoever acted on your figure, not from whoever paid your fee. We establish who can rely on what you issue.
02
Valuation is rated separately
It carries more claims than the rest of the work put together, so the split of your fee income drives the price. We make sure that split is presented accurately.
03
Panels have requirements
Lender panels set limits and terms. We ask whose panels you are on before we approach anyone.
04
We present the risk right
Fee income by work type, panel appointments, inspection methods 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 surveyor cover and costs.
On a policy that treats valuation like any other advice? Leave your details and we’ll call you straight back. One conversation covers the lot.
What the review covers
Lender and institutional panels often set their own limit of indemnity and terms — worth checking what yours requires before you renew.
A lender or purchaser relying on your report can bring a claim directly, which is why who can rely on your work is worth establishing early.
We approach insurers on our panel who write surveying and valuation 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
Surveyor insurance questions, answered straight.
What insurance does a surveying practice need?
Why is valuation work rated differently?
Can a lender sue me even though the borrower was my client?
Do lender panels set insurance requirements?
Does my professional body set requirements too?
Am I covered when I go on a roof or use a drone?
What happens to claims after I retire?
Is expert witness work treated differently?
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.