Indemnity insurance
Insurer blames SRA after opting not to enter solicitors’ professional indemnity market
A potential new professional indemnity insurer has blamed the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s failure to tackle the market’s problems more quickly as the reason it will not be offering cover to law firms this year.
Good news for lawyers as Court of Appeal rules on negligence limitation period
The Court of Appeal has once again declined to follow the landmark House of Lords ruling in Sephton when deciding when the limitation period starts running for the purposes of a professional negligence claim. It is a decision hailed as good news for lawyers.
ABI blasts “timid” SRA for inadequate indemnity insurance reforms
Proposals from the “timid” Solicitors Regulation Authority to reform the market for professional indemnity insurance are inadequate and will only worsen already fears for the future of the market, the Association of British Insurers has warned. However, the SRA’s blueprint has been welcomed by the Law Society and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
Revealed: end to common renewal delayed as solicitors face ARP bill of up to £30m
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has radically reworked its reforms of professional indemnity insurance, delaying the end of common renewal for two years and kicking the question of compulsory cover for financial institutions into the long grass. Solicitors will also be liable to pay up to £30m of claims arising from the ARP during its final year.
SRA weighing up evidence of insurers discriminating against BME solicitors
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is weighing up whether evidence that the underwriting criteria used by professional indemnity insurers disproportionately affects black and minority ethnic solicitors amounts to unlawful discrimination, Legal Futures has discovered.
Clients pushing big law firms to improve risk management, says survey
Clients are expressing much more concern about the way the largest UK law firms are managing risk than before – and than the firms’ own lawyers, a survey has found. While just 21% of lawyers perceived risk management to be a “key priority”, 47% of clients thought it was.
Ombudsman criticises insurance exclusion approved by the LSB last year
The Legal Ombudsman has criticised changes to the minimum terms and conditions for solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance that were approved by its parent Legal Services Board just last year.
Lenders tell SRA: it’s too late to exclude our claims this year
Removing financial institutions from compulsory professional indemnity insurance cover will cause “serious detriment to clients and solicitors” if it is forced through this year as planned, mortgage lenders have warned.
Law Society: SRA has “no coherent vision” for insurance reform
Excluding claims by financial institutions from compulsory professional indemnity insurance cover will harm consumers and smaller law firms, cut access to justice and do little to reduce conveyancing claims, the Law Society has said.
Three-month extension to insurance should replace ARP, suggests Law Society
A temporary extension of cover should replace the pooled liability insurers have for struggling law firms, the Law Society has proposed. The extension of existing cover should be for a minimum of three months and its cost based on the current premium.
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