Professional Indemnity Insurance for Pharmacies and Pharmacists

Updated April 2026

What are the requirements for pharmacies to hold professional indemnity insurance?

All registered retail pharmacy businesses (pharmacies) must have appropriate professional indemnity insurance cover as part of their registration requirements with the PSI. This requirement is set out in Paragraph 16, Schedule 1 of the PSI (Retail Pharmacy Businesses) (Registration) Rules 2008 (S.I. 495 of 2008). 

What are the requirements for pharmacists to hold professional indemnity insurance?

Pharmacists should ensure that they are covered by professional indemnity insurance. 

Although all pharmacies are required to hold professional indemnity insurance as a condition of their pharmacy’s registration, these policies may not automatically cover all individual pharmacists, such as employees, locum pharmacists, or former employees, and particularly in specific situations such as professional disciplinary matters.

Pharmacists, including locum and employee pharmacists, are advised to carefully review their professional indemnity arrangements and clarify the status of their professional indemnity cover with their employer(s) and indemnity providers, ensuring that the correct indemnity cover is in place to cover their practice, including obtaining independent legal advice and support should professional disciplinary matters arise. 

In addition, following the introduction of European Regulations S.I. 65 of 2015 relating to cross-border healthcare, the HSE has recently clarified that health professionals providing cross-border healthcare in the State must also have professional indemnity insurance, either personally or through their employer.