Missing 51 must declare themselves
At least 51 firms have still not officially declared their insurance position and could face enforcement action, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned.
An SRA spokesperson said they know of 51 firms who are still to notify the SRA, out of 130 firms currently in the second part of the extended policy period (EPP) after failing to secure indemnity insurance cover. However, a large number of firms, some of which may be in a similar situation, remain unaccounted for, the spokesperson said.
The potential sanction for failure to notify ranges from a written warning to a £2,000 fine.
Agnieszka Scott, SRA director for policy and financial protection, said: “So far we have shown a lot of understanding towards firms… but now, more than a month later, there really is no excuse.”
Firms automatically qualified for the EPP if they had failed to secure a new policy by 1 October.