Indemnity fears

At this time last year my firm's indemnity policy premium was down by some 70%.This year, without any claims and with only a slightly increased gross fees income, we have found that the best premium we can obtain on the market is up by roughly 70%, and is really not much better than that which we were paying to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF).If my firm, with an excellent claims record, is having this problem, it is reasonable to assume that firms with even a few claims are having difficulty and are probably now paying a greater premium than they were previously paying to the SIF.

Quite apart from the premium, we will now have to pay for run-off cover if the firm discontinues.

It is also clear that insurers will endeavour to avoid payment under the terms of the policy if they can, whereas with the SIF there was no problem.It occurs to me that many solicitors that voted for the open market may now be coming to the conclusion that they have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.Norman Mann, AL Hughes & Co, London