Insurance priced up

Money is the most important criterion lawyers look to when they take out insurance in the post-Solicitors Indemnity Fund regime, according to a survey by...Money is the most important criterion lawyers look to when they take out insurance in the post-Solicitors Indemnity Fund regime, according to a survey by insurance brokers Marsh.Some 200 law firms with up to 25 partners were surveyed, with 80% considering price to be the main purchasing criterion for insurance.

The least important factor was the risk consulting capability of the insurer.

The results might surprise insurers keen to use risk management as a marketing feature of new policies.

The second most important criterion was service, given most important status by 49% of respondents, followed closely by the reputation of the supplier, with 45%.

A spokesman for Marsh said: It was certainly a surprise to us that price came out top of the purchasing criteria with solicitors buying their professional indemnity insurance.

In future years, the spokesman said he expected to see the gap between the priority placed on price of premium and service elements of the policy to narrow.

Barney Micklem, a professional negligence litigation partner with City firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, said: I think it is right that with the new market solicitors are more motivated by price than anything else.

He said there was also some interest in whether firms could get two or three-year policies because many anticipate the market will harden after one or two years.

Jeremy Fleming