Your report of a £54 million Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) surplus appeared alongside the news of a successful compen- sation fund recovery (see [2005] Gazette, 17 February, 1).

The Law Society should pay a significant part of the SIF surplus into the compensation fund so as to eliminate the need for further high levies on the profession. This would be particularly welcome, as the Law Society has increased this year's indemnity premiums by an estimated 20% for many small practices by raising the compulsory-insured element to £2 million.


It has always puzzled me why solicitors should be expected personally to compensate the defrauded clients of other solicitors with whom they have no connection. If a letting agent runs off with rent money, other letting agents are not obliged by a statutory fund to rally round and pay the hapless client.


Stanley Jacobs, London