Insurers and brokers offering professional indemnity insurance (PII) could be given a set of service standards following complaints over this year’s renewals.

Because some brokers provided ‘bad customer service’ to solicitors, the Law Society’s PII crisis group will discuss ‘appropriate service levels’ with insurers and brokers to help the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) ‘reach an agreement on what service standards can be expected in the renewal process’.

These standards may include time-limits for lodging and processing applications.

A revamp of the assigned risks pool (ARP) has also been suggested in a Law Society policy paper, to be considered at a council meeting on 17 December. It says a consultant actuary will be hired to consider whether the nature of the ARP has ‘changed to such an extent that fee or structural changes are required’.

The average price of compulsory PII cover rose 4.3% in 2007/08, although this matched 2006/07 levels.

A move back to the Solicitors Indemnity Fund - a cooperative insurance scheme abandoned in the late 1990s - and staggered renewal dates are also being considered (see [2008] Gazette, 27 November, p3).

The SRA’s contingency plans should an insurer become insolvent will also be scrutinised.

See Opinion