PII outlook ‘positive’ as new entrant targets small firms

A new entrant has joined the solicitor professional indemnity insurance market with a strategy to target small firms.

Specialist broker Prime Professions has launched a new product offering access to A-rated insurer Axis Specialty to sole practitioners or firms with up to three partners. The insurer is entering the solicitor PII market for the first time and is looking to attract business from a sector that has found it difficult to secure cover in recent years.

With more options open to law firms during renewal season, Prime Professions director Mark Ellis said there is not the same pressure to make hasty decisions.

‘We would now advise those looking to renew their PII to take their time and not rush into the first quote offered to them,’ he said.

‘Axis Specialty is an insurer right out of the top drawer, and their decision to enter the market should demonstrate to solicitors that, unlike in many previous years, there are more options out there.’

Axis Specialty, which is not disclosing the size of its PII book, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Axis Capital Holdings, a company registered in Bermuda.

Last week, The Law Society signed up PII broker Aon to provide professional indemnity insurance to members of its Conveyancing Quality Scheme and Lexcel quality marks.

Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said the PII outlook was ‘positive’, with new entrants in particular becoming an option for the smaller end of the market.