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Solicitors

Solicitors and Legal Firms beware!

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Its that time of year again!

 

Professional Indemnity for Solicitors is always a hot topic at this time of year.

 

Traditionally all firms renewed on the Law Society scheme on 1st October, but since that scheme was broken up, at least 60% still renew on that date, with another chunk who chose 18 month policies, renewing on the 1st April and a smattering of new start-ups at other times.

 

This is a nightmare for firms and for the insurers.

 

Firms looking for alternative options to the existing provider are asking the limited number of underwriters not only to deal with their existing customers, but also prepare terms for the ones they don’t hold, all in the run up to 1st of October. In total there are over 600 firms.

 

The secret is to start early and I mean NOW!

 

That way we can approach insurers when they aren’t quite so busy with renewals. We can get a commitment to quote, which means if an existing broker then approaches them to “block off” that market, with a fake request for terms they can’t, because we already have commitment.

 

Also don’t fall for the option to “ONLY” consider a short declaration to get renewal terms. These short declarations do not hold enough information for alternate terms to be obtained. You’re just going to get the terms they want to give you, secure in the knowledge you’re not looking elsewhere.

 

It also means they don’t have to give claims experience to anyone else, because you signed a declaration to them. This is particularly prevalent at times when premiums are likely to reduce, like NOW!

 

If you want to get lower premiums work with a broker who works for fixed fees, or a % of the reduction achieved, and is not commission focused, with an interest in seeing your premium rise and their earnings with it.

 

Want to know how we can save up to 20% on your total spend?

 

Just message me here and don’t wait, there isn’t much time and the weeks are passing quickly.

 

Have a great week

 

Professional Indemnity

The odd one out!

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Most liability cover is about two things, DAMAGE to property or INJURY to people. Its really that simple, although of course the devil is always in the detail, but what about the odd one out!

PI Cover (Professional Indemnity) also known as professional liability, is very different. It is not primarily concerned with damage or injury, although there are some examples where this is relevant, but more of that later.

Professional Indemnity deals with:

The FINANCIAL LOSSES suffered by your clients, where they allege that the financial loss is a direct result of your, negligence, errors, or omissions.

That is that you did something wrong, or you failed to do something you should have done, and that “professional failure” led directly to the financial loss.

Now it’s easy to see why this cover generally relates to what are loosely termed the professional classes, such as Solicitors, Accountants, Architects, Surveyors, IFA’s, Stockbrokers, IT Consultants etc… The list goes on and on, but generally speaking anyone who offers a service or provides advice, for a fee, would require PI cover, as their primary concern.

Bodily injury can be covered. So now we are thinking about nurses, doctors, dentists, medical consultants, and other healthcare professionals, where the professional failure could lead to a medical condition or injury. In this context we call PI cover, medical negligence.

Obviously, there are lots of other covers that professionals can arrange, like anyone else, including the standard liabilities and damage to property, but PI would always be their main concern. In a lot of cases the professional bodies to which these individuals and businesses belong require PI cover to be in place before they can transact business.

If you are unsure about whether you need PI cover, or whether it would be advisable, for you or your business, feel free to give us a call 029 20 470375 or just message me here for a no obligation chat.

It could be the most valuable call you ever make.

Have a great weekend 😊