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Regardless of how much care you put into your work, unforeseen events such as an error in a report for a client, a visitor injuring themselves at your premises, or the theft of a company laptop could cost your business thousands of pounds. Our environmental and ecology consultants insurance can cover your business against these scenarios and more, giving you the peace of mind that if something unexpected happens, you are covered.
Our simple quote system will ask about your business operations and build a policy around them, offering you covers that may be of interest. You can choose to buy all or just some of the covers quoted, so you will only ever pay for the cover you want.
Environmental consultant insurance refers to a tailored group of policies designed to help protect professionals who provide advice and assessments related to environmental issues. This type of insurance can include professional indemnity to safeguard against claims of negligence or errors in your consultancy work, and public liability coverage for incidents such as property damage during site visits.
By securing insurance, environmental consultants can gain peace of mind knowing they are protected from financial losses resulting from any legal action or unforeseen incidents that may arise while delivering services.
*Price based on an environmental consultant requiring £1 million of public liability insurance.

If you are an environmental consultant, you may want to consider insurance if your work involves providing recommendations or reports that influence land use or affect the environment. Clients, such as developers, may require proof of insurance before hiring consultants to ensure that advice they give is covered, and any risks are managed. Insurance can help to safeguard you in situations where your advice could impact major decisions or where you might be exposed to liability during fieldwork or environmental audits on client sites.
If you have an existing policy with us, please sign in to view your policy documents.
Below you will find examples of the documents provided.
Professional indemnity insurance covers the cost of defending your business against allegations of professional negligence (such as giving your client incorrect or wrongful advice) and any compensation or damages subsequently awarded against you. This is essential protection for environmental advisors and ecology consultants and insurance cover is available with limits ranging from £50,000 to £5m.
Public and product liability insurance covers the cost of defending your business (including damages awarded against you if unsuccessful) if someone is injured, or their property damaged, which arises from you going about your business or supplying products. The legal fees alone could cost your business thousands of pounds. This is an important cover if you regularly deal with clients or members of the public. Limits range from £1m to £5m.
Employer’s liability insurance is a legal requirement if your business has employees. It covers your business against claims for injury or illness suffered by employees arising from their employment. If your environmental or ecology consultancy employs staff, it is likely you need this cover. Cover for £10m.
Commercial legal expenses insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Cover is also provided for the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £100,000 to £5m.
Directors and officers insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Cover is also provided in respect of the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £100,000 to £5m.
Office insurance covers your office buildings, office contents and computer equipment against accidental damage (including theft) whilst on your business premises. You can also choose to cover your business equipment (such as laptops and mobile phones) on a worldwide basis, and insure your business against loss of income and/or additional trading expenses following events such as damage to your property.
Occupational personal accident insurance provides a weekly payment if you are unable to work due to temporary total disablement (subject to a 14-day deferment period) due to an accident at work, or when travelling to and from work. In the event of loss of limbs, sight, speech, hearing, permanent total disablement or death, a lump sum would be paid out. You should consider this cover if you would struggle to maintain an income following an accident that left you unable to work. Limits from £100/week to £500/week for temporary total disablement (£25k lump sum to £100k lump sum for permanent total disablement).
Cyber insurance pays the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit following a cyber-attack. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties. If you hold confidential information about your clients and their projects on computers and other internet connected devices, you should consider to this cover.
The cost of environmental consultant insurance depends on several factors, such as:
At Markel Direct, policies for environmental consultants start from £5 per month*.
*Based on an environmental consultant requiring £1,000,000 public liability cover.
These frequently asked questions are designed to help you and include questions relating to policy cover, pricing and ‘technical’ terms.
Yes. If you purchase your policy with us, your documents are emailed to you instantly and include a dedicated 'Confirmation of Liability Insurance' document (detailing the cover you have with us) which you can present to agencies and clients as proof of cover.
We cover past work if you have held professional indemnity insurance uninterrupted prior to arranging your policy with us.
If there was a period of time where you did not have professional indemnity insurance in force (for example, you have never arranged professional indemnity insurance before, you chose not to renew a previous policy or you cancelled a previous policy at the end of a contract) we are unable to cover past work.
If you require further clarification, don't hesitate to call us on 0800 640 6600.
Professional indemnity insurance covers against allegations of professional negligence - which means it would cover you if you were to make an error or mistake in a piece of work (such as a project or report) for a client.
Public liability insurance covers against allegations of injury or illness caused to third parties by your negligence. This includes many of the slips, trips and falls that are associated with personal injury claims. In addition, public liability insurance covers against damage to third party property - for example, if you were to damage a client-owned laptop or smartphone.
As they insure against different scenarios, it's important you consider arranging both types of cover to ensure you are properly protected.
Many clients and industry bodies with regulatory requirements will require you to have a minimum level of cover for you to undertake a contract, so it's worth checking this before you arrange cover. If you're unsure, give some thought to a worst-case scenario and the likely costs involved in putting your mistake right. We offer a range of limits on insurance, so you're sure to find the right cover for your business.
Markel Direct has over 25 years of experience insuring contractors, consultants and self-employed professionals. We insure over 200,000 micro businesses and are highly rated by our customers at Feefo.com.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023
To talk about your insurance requirements and better understand our cover, call us on 0800 640 6600 or get a quick quote online.
Markel Direct is a trading name of Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023
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