Residential conveyancing notifications on the up

Notifications of claims brought against solicitors for residential conveyancing matters rose dramatically in the last quarter of the year, first year-end results from the open indemnity market have shown.The distribution of notifications was: residential conveyancing 27%; litigation 25%; commercial property 13%; family law 8%; company /commercial 7%; trusts and probate 7%; personal injury 5%; financial 2%, and other claims 6%.At the end of the third quarter, only 19% of claims related to residential conveyancing.Trevor Moss, a director with Alexander Forbes, the broker which compiled the figures from the major insurers, said the relative hike in conveyancing claims was an early recessionary indicator.'The problem with residential conveyancing is that there is a huge gulf between the application of the solicitor and the client's expectations,' he said.

'Clients expect so much input on something so important.'Meanwhile, QBE insurance, the third largest underwriter of legal indemnity insurance is investigating a method of surveying the relative risk-worthiness of its - generally two-to-four partner - member firms.Mark Cassidy, QBE's director of solicitors indemnity, said the exercise would benefit all QBE's member firms because it would enable them to see where their weaknesses lie.Mr Cassidy said solicitors should be prepared for potential rises in insurance premiums of up to 25%.Mr Moss agreed that the market in legal insurance could harden considerably next year.Jeremy Fleming