Rise in firms seeking finance for PC renewal payments
The number of law firms seeking finance for practising certificate renewal payments jumped 37% this year, according to independent finance provider Syscap.
Syscap received 1,841 applications for financial help with certificates—nearly one in five of all UK law firms.
Nearly all applications were made by firms with fewer than five partners. Smaller firms faced higher costs to renew this year due to a rise in payments to the firm compensation fund, a flat fee that must be paid by all firms holding client money, regardless of size, and is used to compensate clients of insolvent law firms.
Philip White, CEO of Syscap, the Law Society’s endorsed finance provider, said: “We started receiving applications for funding as soon as the facility went live, which shows that firms are building financing into their budgets well in advance and use it to spread costs."