Legal regulators are adopting a tougher stance on firms who have failed to secure professional indemnity insurance. A new strategy towards solicitors’ firms in the assigned risks pool, which provides indemnity for firms who fail to obtain it on the open market, has been approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
By the end of the month, all firms in the pool which are nearing the end of their two-year term will be contacted to ensure plans are in place for them either to obtain insurance or wind down. The SRA will take regulatory action so that by the October deadline as many high-risk and non-paying firms as possible will have been managed out of the pool. Any firm whose position has not been resolved by the cut off date is likely to face intervention to close them down.