SRA – Cloudy with a chance of rain….
14th July 2015
April showers, British frustration at Wimbledon, and public transport chaos – an eclectic mix of disappointments and annoyances that owing to their alarming regularity seem to have cemented themselves in the annual calendar. And now it seems that courtesy of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority we can now add PII policy coverage minimums to that circus.
That’s right, this week the SRA has reopened the inflammatory debate about minimum cover for professional indemnity insurance. Having had last year’s attempts at reducing the level of compulsory cover to £500,000 on any one claim rebutted, the regulators have got straight back on the horse. Specifically, this rounds proposals are flirting with the idea of removing the compulsory requirement for insurance for more sophisticated clients (think conveyancing here), and even included the option of ditching the minimum altogether. The disbelieving among you can see for yourselves: SRA consultations/discussion-papers
Now call me sceptical (it appears the older members of the office are already rubbing off on me) but such proposals seem to be on a collision course with the same concerns that scuppered last year’s suggestions. Amid all the talk of appropriateness, flexibility and lower costs, it is important not to lose sight of the fundamental reason for PII minimums: client protection. The client is the most important, after all!