Solicitors continued to make errors in their professional indemnity insurance (PII) proposal forms this renewal period, according to a major broker.

Illegible writing, unanswered questions, inaccurate fee breakdown between work types, and incomplete financial information continued to litter law firms’ proposals, according to Kim Swestun, associate director and Lexcel consultant at insurance broker Aon.

Writing in the latest issue of the Law Society’s Insurance Matters newsletter, Swestun said that many firms applied earlier for PII cover in 2010 than they did in 2009.

Almost 13% of firms lodged their proposals with Aon with more than 11 weeks to go in the 2010 renewal period, compared with 1% in 2009. Nevertheless, some 27% of proposals were received by Aon in the last four weeks before the 1 October deadline.

‘Firms should treat applying for PII as seriously as bidding for new work,’ said Swestun.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said that, according to feedback contained in 2,000 calls received by the Law Society’s PII helpline, two to three partner firms, and particularly firms undertaking conveyancing work, faced the most challenging renewal once again.

Hudson said Chancery Lane is ‘concerned’ at the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s ‘exclusive focus on public protection’ in its consultation on PII , released earlier this month. He urged all solicitors to engage with the SRA over the consultation.