We are learning the hard way about the hazards of an economic model predicated on letting the market rip. In the market for professional indemnity insurance (PII), some of these hazards are evident in microcosm. When the market was soft and premiums low, it appeared sensible for firms to obtain PII on the open market. But markets wax and wane, and as the economy has foundered this year’s renewal exercise has proved fraught.

The Law Society’s PII crisis group will tell Council next week that some firms have faced premium increases of up to 300%, while others have not been able to get cover at all. And this is not just about money. Problems in obtaining PII can trigger a firm’s demise and thereby reduce choice for the public.

So what is to be done? Some are clamouring for the Solicitors Indemnity Fund to be disinterred – noting that it was created 20 years ago in response to a hardening market. This would be difficult. Resurrecting the idea that strong firms should subsidise weaker ones is likely to be a tough sale in the current environment.

Staggered renewal dates would seem to make sense, but this has also been considered before and rejected. It might reduce the power of insurers and brokers, but might reduce competition for solicitors’ business too. Council has some difficult decisions to make.