Architectural Lighting Design - Same-Day Urgent Cover

A specialist architectural lighting design consultancy in Sydney's inner west contacted us needing Professional Indemnity insurance urgently. The enquiry was flagged as same-day, meaning they needed cover confirmed and in force before close of business.

The firm provided design consultancy services only. No erection, no installation, no physical construction work. Revenue was around $100,000, one staff member, operating in NSW only. They needed $1M PI cover.

Architectural lighting design is a niche sub-discipline that sits outside the standard categories most PI insurers use to classify architectural work. This creates a market access problem that many firms in specialist design roles encounter.

We approached four insurers. The responses came back quickly given the urgent timeframe:

• Prorisk: declined on occupation
• Brooklyn: declined on occupation
• Berkley: declined on occupation
• Woodina: approximately $700 for $1M PI

Three of four insurers declined outright. None would consider the risk at any price. Woodina was the sole market willing to provide terms for this occupation.

The challenge here is structural. Architectural lighting design doesn't appear as a standard occupation in most insurer systems. When an underwriter can't classify a risk into their existing categories, the default response is often a decline rather than a referral.

This is a pattern we see regularly across specialist and sub-discipline architectural roles. The work is clearly professional consultancy. There's no physical risk. The design liability is real but bounded. Yet standard PI markets won't quote because the occupation description doesn't match their appetite lists.

The urgency added further pressure. Same-day cover requirements leave no room for underwriter referrals, follow-up questions, or extended consideration periods. The market either says yes quickly or the opportunity is lost.

We placed $1M PI through Woodina at approximately $700. The client confirmed the same afternoon, giving a full same-day turnaround from first call to policy confirmation.

For architectural sub-disciplines like lighting design, acoustic consulting, or heritage advisory, the market access question is often more important than the price question. Finding an insurer willing to quote is the first hurdle. Competitive pricing follows from there.