Firms fail to declare lack of PII

Firms fail to declare lack of PII

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that it appears a substantial number of firms have failed to declare their professional indemnity insurance position despite being required to do so. The SRA wrote to those firms who had declared that they had been unable to obtain cover in November advising them of the steps they needed to take and will now be contacting the firms who did not declare to ascertain their position and informing them of possible enforcement action.

The SRA discovered that there appeared to be firms who had not declared by undertaking a data-matching exercise.

Mike Haley, SRA Director of Supervision, said:

“We have identified a number of firms that have not found a new insurer and failed to notify us of their position. Given this failure, those firms are considered to be at risk of failing to obtain new insurance or wind down in an orderly fashion by 29 December.

“As we warned in November, failing to notify us is a breach of the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules 2012 and enforcement action will be considered.”

The number of firms captured by this exercise is changing every day. These firms are of course still operating under an insurance policy as they automatically qualify for the EPP.

The SRA is continuing to work with firms definitely in the EPP as the end date approaches to ensure all contingencies are planned for. Supervisors have been agreeing compliance plans to ensure clients interests are protected as the firm winds down in an orderly way should they not be able to secure a new policy.

If your firm is one of those that has failed to find insurance and who must cease practising by 29th December, then the Lawyers Defence Group can assist you – either by helping you to achieve an orderly wind down or, alternatively, by discussing with you the possibility for continuing in association with another firm.

Terms and Conditions | Site Map | Privacy and Cookies

Copyright © 2020 Richard Nelson LLP and Murdochs. All rights reserved.
The Lawyers Defence Group is operated by Richard Nelson LLP, a Limited Liability Partnership authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and whose partnership number is OC357136 and Murdochs Solicitors, who are also authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and whose SRA number is 52683.
Please note that all advice, guidance, representation and assistance, legal or otherwise, is provided either by those firms or by appropriate referral to other suitably qualified persons. No advice, guidance, assistance, representation or other support is provided by or in the name of the Lawyers Defence Group.
For further details please refer to the terms and conditions for use of this web site and to the terms and conditions of the firms involved.
The professional rules governing our lawyers can be found at rules.sra.org.uk