A City law firm and an insurance broker are offering to take on complaints-handling work for law firms with a service that they claim could cut firms’ professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums.

Davies Arnold Cooper will provide 10 hours of free legal advice on internal and external complaints handling, to firms that buy their PII through broker QLP. Firms can instruct DAC at a reduced hourly rate if complaints escalate.

DAC partner Michael Dobias said that if insurers feel a law firm’s risk management systems are good, they are more likely to offer lower premiums. He said that the service, which is aimed at firms with between two and 12 partners, helps show insurers that a firm is taking risk management seriously by having legal advice on hand to help deal with complaints.

QLP said that many law firms do not have effective complaints-handling systems, which makes them less attractive to insurers. QLP director Keith Earthrowl said: ‘Contrary to widespread perception, the majority of insurers’ [PII] costs are not derived from high-profile large claims – the £1m-plus payout – but from the combined cost of frequent, smaller attritional claims.’