The SPG are holding a free online Roundtable discussion about the SRA’s Consultation on the potential closure of the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF). Responses to the consultation must be submitted by Tuesday 15 February 2022. SPG will be submitting in a response on behalf of our members.
The Roundtable is open to any SPG member who is currently in practise as a sole practitioner, but we are particularly keen to hear from sole practitioners who set up their business within the last 10 years and as places will be limited to 30 people, priority booking will be given to them.
Our guest speaker at the Roundtable will be Linda Lee who is the Chair of the Law Society’s Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee. As you will be aware the Solicitors Indemnity Fund is due to close in September 2022 and the SRA recently launched a consultation on the future of the Fund.
We are particularly keen to hear from members with responses to the following questions:
- Can you provide any examples of long tail claims which have arisen more than 6 years after a firm has closed?
- Do you know of any claims made 6 years after the date they arose?
- Would you have become a sole practitioner had you known that there would be no professional indemnity insurance cover in place after 6 years from the date you closed your practice?
- Do you feel that as a sole practitioner you provide some legal services which would not be available to certain types of clients if solicitors were dissuaded from becoming sole practitioners as a result of the lack of post-six-year run-off cover?
- What sort of legal services and clients might these be?
- Do you think there are areas of law which will be particularly impacted by the proposed closure of SIF?
We hope you will be able to join us at this Roundtable as the consequences of the closure of SIF will have serious repercussions particularly for sole practitioners and their clients. It is a very important consultation and we also urge you to respond to the consultation individually. If you are unable to join the Roundtable but would like to reply to the above questions, please send your comments to info@spg.uk.com.