Investors take action against solicitor’s PII insurers

Once it became evident that no real work was taking place, investors took action against the solicitor acting for Kuvera (Ireland) Ltd, the company responsible for promoting a property development scheme in India. The investors claimed that they had been encouraged to put their money into the scheme by two letters written to them by the solicitor, Seymour Major.

In 2010, the Dublin High Court found in favour of the investors, arguing that Major had owed them a duty of care and that they were entitled to recover a total of €7.7 million from him. However, Major informed the court that he had no assets and was subsequently declared bankrupt.

So the investors have now turned their attention to the insurers responsible for providing Major’s professional indemnity insurance. A move which, according to belfasttelegraph.co.uk, has led to an action in which the insurers are seeking a declaration that they are not responsible for indemnifying Major who, incidentally, is still on the Northern Ireland Roll of Solicitors but no longer holds a practicing certificate.

The question now is how will the court finally decide?

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Surveyors offered new professional indemnity product

Here comes another response to professions hit by rising professional indemnity insurance premiums in the wake of the global financial crisis. And this time it comes from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ preferred professional indemnity broker.

RiskSurv is a new product designed to provide competitively-priced professional indemnity cover for smaller firms of surveyors, town planners and estate agents with no loss of expert sector advice.

Professional indemnity insurance for hundreds of different professions is available at 01480 470220.

Ireland’s main provider of solicitors’ Professional Indemntiy Insurance faces large deficit

The Solicitors’ Mutual Defence Fund, Ireland’s primary provider of professional indemnity insurance for solicitors, was established in 1987 as a response to the high premiums solicitors were being charged by commercial insurers for their professional indemnity cover. But the Fund is now facing difficulties. Whilst 90% of its €170 million liabilities are covered by reinsurance, that still leaves a €17 million deficit.

Amongst the proposals being considered is a levy on Law Society members to create a €25 million contingency and a possible winding down of the Fund altogether. But the levy is unlikely to be popular with the 40% of law firms who arrange their professional indemnity with other insurers and who would have to pay the levy on top of their existing premiums. Particularly since those commercial premiums have been rising sharply as a result of the number of claims arising from alleged property malpractice.

Indeed, at the end of last year, over 50 law firms in Ireland found themselves unable to renew their professional indemnity insurance at all and sought to join the Law Society’s own ‘safety net’ insurance scheme or assigned risk pool.

What the future holds for the Solicitors’ Mutual Defence Fund (which is independent of the Law Society) and what impact there will be on the professional indemnity insurance market for solicitors in Ireland remains to be seen.

Need competitively-priced professional indemnity insurance? Call our dedicated team with any questions on 01480 470220.

Professional Indemnity. It’s there for what you say as well as what you do!

Sahil Merchant, writing on the subject of shareholders’ agreements for startupsmart.com.au, was at pains to point out that the topic was a legal one and that he wasn’t a lawyer. In other words, he was simply expressing a personal opinion. And having issued his disclaimer, he then commented: “Good, my professional indemnity insurance are now happy.” Probably tongue in cheek.

But you can’t be too careful! Protect yourself with the professional indemnity insurance you need call us at 01480 470220.

Professional indemnity insurance part of new IFA firm’s offer

Prosperity, a new firm for IFAs, combines aspects of both the corporate and the network models. Members will retain their self-employed status and continue to do business under their own name. However, joining Prosperity will offer some big advantages.

Standardised IT systems and materials will be provided at no cost whilst training and support will also be available. As will professional indemnity insurance. For some IFAs, it will seem like the best of both worlds.

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for professional indemnity insurance at highly competitive rates, call us at 01480 470220.

Avoid Those PI Claims In The First Place

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No matter how good your professional indemnity insurancecover is, it’s still better to avoid someone making a claim against you in the first place. And Melinda Parisotti had some good advice to offer to consultants working in the construction industry recently. In her article posted on Building.co.uk, she told her readers never to forget the ‘3 Rs’ – reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.

Always read the small print in every contract you sign. All manner of onerous conditions might be lurking there, any one of which could be enough to put you in default without you even necessarily realising it. And always write down (or, at least, record in some manner) everything you do and everything that happens. It could save you on the day.

Arithmetic? As Melinda pointed out, you’ll need to be good at it if the claims and the lawyers’ bills start arriving!

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Chartered accountants in India to get 100% Professional Indemnity Insurance cove

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Traditionally, few firms of Chartered Accountants in India have ever taken out professional indemnity insurance. Not only has it never been a legal requirement, the amount of cover per claim has been limited to just 25% of the aggregated policy limit by the state-owned general insurers. To many firms, self-insurance seemed to offer a better deal than paying what was effectively a four-fold premium.

Now however, a new professional indemnity insurance product has been launched by Tata AIG General Insurance Company. It has been designed specifically for Chartered Accountants and will offer them 100% cover for the first time. One feature, unusual from a UK perspective, is that, in the event of a claim, Tata AIG will appoint the lawyers to provide representation directly rather than simply reimbursing the cost.

To find the professional indemnity insurance you need, call 03333 211403.

But there’s pressure elsewhere to reduce Professional Indemnity Insurance requirements

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As we’ve seen, the amount of professional indemnity cover that contractors are required to have in place before bidding for projects continues to increase. But pressure has been mounting in both the UK and Ireland to prevent the situation becoming disproportionate. The concern is that the PII requirement is one of the reasons why SMEs in particular are failing to bid for, let alone win, public sector contracts.

As reported in electricalportal.co.uk, Martin Reid, Member Services Manager of the Scottish electro-technical trade body, SELECT, has questioned whether it is reasonable “to demand £5 million of professional indemnity insurance for a contract which is worth only £250,000.”

Meanwhile, in Ireland, there is a strong suggestion that the pressure may be having its effects. According to a report in irishtimes.com, many people believe that the Department of Finance has already instructed other Government departments to lower the threshold for smaller public sector contract bidders in the IT field, including a reduction in the professional indemnity insurance requirement. Call us at 01480 470220.