Four Insurers. Seven Times the Price Difference.

A civil engineering consultancy based on the Gold Coast approached us for Professional Indemnity insurance. The director ran a small advisory practice focused on technical consultancy for government and transport infrastructure projects: roads, drainage, and site development input at the planning and design stage.

The practice was early-stage, with annual revenue under $100,000. PI coverage of $2M was requested, consistent with typical requirements for civil engineering work. Importantly, the firm was non-certifying, providing technical advice and design input only, not issuing compliance certificates or formally signing off on construction work.

That distinction matters. Civil engineers who issue certification carry greater direct liability exposure. Consultants who provide advisory and design input to government projects sit at a lower risk profile for most underwriters, but not all of them price it that way.

We took the risk to market across four underwriters active in the professional indemnity space for engineering consultancies:

• ProRisk - specialist professional lines underwriter
• Dual Australia - professional indemnity specialist
• Vero - general insurer with PI capability
• BHSI (Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance) - global specialty carrier

Each was provided with identical information about the risk: civil engineering consultancy, non-certification scope, government and transport sector focus, $10K revenue, $2M limit requested, Gold Coast location.

We requested annual premium quotes, assessed policy terms, and compared wording to ensure each quote was covering the same scope before presenting options to the client.

The striking challenge here wasn't difficulty placing the risk. Civil engineering consulting is placeable across the market. The challenge was the extraordinary price dispersion that came back.

ProRisk quoted around $1,500. BHSI quoted around $11,000. That's a 7x difference in annual premium for identical cover on the same risk. Dual and Vero fell in between, at roughly $2,200 and $8,800 respectively.

The spread reflects how differently underwriters price the non-certification distinction, the government/transport sector mix, and the early-stage revenue profile. Some insurers apply a minimum base rate regardless of revenue or scope. Others price more granularly to the actual risk characteristics.

For a business at $10K annual revenue, the difference between $1,500 and $11,000 in annual PI premium is the difference between insurance being affordable and being a serious operational burden.