Insuristic is the first insurance broker in the UK to provide probate property and legal indemnity insurance online to both lay personal representatives and solicitors.
There isn't a single policy called Executor Insurance; it is a term people in this role (or administrators if there isn't a Will) use to search for information about the risks they face and the policies available to protect their liability.
If a solicitor is providing a full estate administration service, they should be arranging your cover, or at least advising you on the risks.
If you've only appointed a solicitor to apply for the Grant, or you're handling probate yourself, the online market for these covers is small. Insuristic is the only insurance broker in the UK that will quote for your third-party risks online through its Estate Protect Direct policy, and one of the few with a bespoke policy for insuring a property in probate.
This page explains what isn't covered, then points you to the policies available to executors and administrators from Insuristic. Use the contents menu to navigate to the section that interests you.
If you are a solicitor, visit our solicitor insurance products page instead.
As an executor or administrator you're personally liable at every stage of the probate process, from deciding whether probate is needed, locating the Will (or, where there isn't one, identifying and tracing everyone entitled to inherit and working out their share), tracing and valuing all the assets and liabilities, dealing with inheritance tax, making the application, then administering the estate, preparing the accounts, to distributing the estate and handling any legal challenges, all while avoiding any conflict of interest. Get something wrong, or face a claim, and that liability is yours personally.
Below, you can see which of these risks you can insure against — and which you can't.
There is one policy in the market that claims to cover an executor for errors and omissions in the process. Insuristic would not sell such a policy, as the cost is usually higher than appointing a solicitor to do the work and take on that liability, and the cover is only available for 18 months from the point you start, whereas this risk can be there forever.
If you're worried about getting something wrong, appoint a solicitor, as their professional indemnity (PI) insurance protects you against any mistakes or omissions in their work - forever. You don't need to appoint them for a full estate administration service; many will apply for Probate for you (usually in the region of £1-2,000, depending on whether the estate is liable for Inheritance Tax). If you'd like an introduction to a specialist probate solicitor, visit our find a solicitor page.
If you are aware of a potential dispute from a dependent, beneficiary or someone holding another Will (there are more scenarios), visit our contentious probate page to book a consultation with a specialist solicitor.
You'll usually still need to consider property insurance and the legal indemnity covers, unless the solicitor arranges these for you. We have insurance policies specifically for solicitors that can provide you with broader cover and save you money on legal indemnity policies.
| Risk | Claim Timeframe | Cover Available |
|---|---|---|
| Property Underinsurance / Gaps in cover | From the death of the owner until the property is sold or inherited | Probate Property Insurance |
| Errors | Claimant can claim any time - so a risk forever | None - only a solicitor can insure under their professional indemnity insurance |
| Omissions | Claimant can claim any time - so a risk forever | None - only a solicitor can insure under their professional indemnity insurance |
| Inheritance Act 1975 claim (dependants) | 6 months from the Grant (court can extend to 10 months) | Early Distribution Insurance |
| Unknown Creditor Claims | 6 years from the estates distribution | Section 27 Insurance |
| Claim following another Will being discovered | Claimant can claim any time - so a risk forever | Missing Will Insurance |
| Claim from a missing beneficiary not conisidered | 12 years | Missing Beneficiary Insurance |
Claims in these areas can be significant, and they fall to the executors or administrators personally.
Even successfully defending a third-party claim can run up substantial legal costs, and any damages on top can be sizeable. This is a personal liability, as you have a legal duty to protect the beneficiaries from financial loss. So a large claim could risk your own home, savings or business - a difficult pill to swallow if you're doing this to help your family. If you can't meet the claim, the beneficiaries can be drawn into it too, becoming liable for the costs and damages themselves.
So it's important to fully consider your liability and the risk to your own financial future. The insurance can be treated as an estate expense, and the purchase can't be blocked by the beneficiaries — it isn't their decision.
Often referred to as probate legal indemnity insurance, this cover protects executors, administrators and beneficiaries against the legal defence costs and any award arising from a third-party claim, which can surface years after the estate is distributed.
Which policies you need depends on whether the deceased left a valid Will (testate) or died without one (intestate). Read the guide for your situation:
Please see below for links to the 4 policies available.
The timing depends on which cover you need.
For property cover, arrange Probate Property Insurance as soon as the property becomes empty; gaps in cover and underinsurance are a personal liability risk for the executors.
For the legal indemnity policies (Early Distribution, Section 27, Missing Will, and Missing Beneficiary Insurance), arrange cover on Estate Protect Direct as soon as you have the Grant. Cover starts from the policy date, not the date of the Grant, so don't delay. And if a claim is received before you arrange cover, you may not be able to insure against it at all.
In England and Wales, the person responsible for administering an estate is called an executor if there's a Will, or an administrator if there's no Will.
Only Probate Property Insurance can be arranged before the Grant is issued. The executor's responsibility for the property starts at the date of death, not at the date of the Grant.
The various legal indemnity policies can only be arranged once you have the Grant. This is because the policies are underwritten based on what's known about the estate at the point of distribution.
Potentially. Even with a solicitor, you still face third-party risks that the solicitor's professional indemnity (PI) insurance doesn't cover.
A solicitor's PI insurance protects you against mistakes or omissions in the work the solicitor does, for example, getting the probate application wrong, miscalculating tax, or mishandling the estate administration.
It does not cover third-party claims, which is what executor legal indemnity insurance is designed to cover. These include:
These risks are entirely separate from the quality of the solicitor's work — they can arise even when everything has been done correctly.
If you need cover, you can arrange this on our Estate Protect Direct policy.
If your solicitor is arranging the legal indemnity covers, they can do so through our Estate Protect Direct policy. Solicitors get a discount on Insuristic's legal indemnity policies, which often makes this route more cost-effective than arranging the cover yourself.
Yes. Executor insurance is a legitimate estate expense and can be reimbursed from estate funds.
The policy usually has to be paid up front, before the estate's bank accounts are accessible. In practice this means one of two things:
If you're unsure which route works for your situation, speak with the bank holding the estate's funds. Either way, the insurance cost itself sits with the estate, not with you personally.
Before taking any action, please refer to your policy document for instructions on how to notify a claim. You should not respond to the third party; leave that to the underwriter.
If you need advice on a potential or existing claim, you should speak to the claims team at CLS Property Insight on 01732 753 910.
Yes, as long as there are no known issues. If the delays are caused by a dispute or caveat, you must declare this, so that your quote details refer to the underwriter. In this situation, Insuristic will manage the discussions and quote process offline.
It depends on the policy.
The four legal indemnity policies (Early Distribution, Section 27, Missing Will, Missing Beneficiary) run forever, which is important because some claims (such as the discovery of a later Will or a missing beneficiary surfacing) can arise many years after distribution. If a claim arises, there is also no excess to pay; the underwriter deals with everything on the Personal Representative's behalf.
Probate Property Insurance runs for the term you arrange — typically annual or short-term — and ends when the property is sold, inherited, or occupied again.
Start with our Probate Risk Management guide, which has a range of useful content for personal representatives, covering insurance, asset searches, contentious probate and more.
In addition to the insurance pages, the following will also be useful to you:
Rob Faulkner is a leading expert in Probate Insurance, Probate Risk Management, Property Insurance (especially Unoccupied Home Insurance), with nearly 30 years’ experience in the UK insurance market. He is the founder of Insuristic, a specialist provider of probate-related insurance solutions and educational content for executors.
Rob is an ACII Chartered Insurance Broker, a Chartered Manager, and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. His background spans insurers, brokers, and Insurtechs, always focused on innovation, transparency, simplicity, and fair value.
Rob is passionate about product development and improving insurance education through marketing, helping people understand what they are buying. These values sit at the heart of everything we do at Insuristic.
His mission is to make Insurance smarter, easier to understand, and faster to buy. Particularly for the Probate market, where Rob has identified friction points and solved them for lay clients and solicitors alike.
Want to learn more? Visit my author page or follow me on LinkedIn.
Insuristic Limited is an Appointed Representative of SJL (Worcester) Ltd, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with the reference number 991835. This can be checked by visiting https://register.fca.org.uk/s/.
Registered Office: Unit 2, 262 Walsall Road, Cannock, England, WS11 0JL. Registered in England and Wales No: 13926650.
Insuristic is a registered trademark. ©Copyright 2023 Insuristic Limited. All Rights Reserved.
