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PII News
- Special Purpose Fund ("SPF") Manager
Following an extensive tender process, the position of SPF Manager has been awarded to Capita Commercial Insurance Services. The SPF Manager will be responsible for managing the Assigned Risks Pool and the new Run-off Fund. The new SPF Manager can be contacted by phone on 0044-207-397-4539 or email spf@capita.co.uk.
- Chartis Insurance Ireland Limited has changed to Chartis Europe Limited following a cross border merger with Chartis Insurance UK Limited on 1st December, 2011. Chartis state that the legal entity changes will not affect any terms and conditions in their clients' insurance policies or their ability to claim, and will not impact on their operation management structure in Ireland.
- Succeeding Practices - view article here.
- Disclosure of financial rating by qualified insurers - Qualified insurers are required to disclose their financial rating, or lack thereof, to firms when issuing quotations. This information allows firms to make more fully informed decisions on their choice of insurer and ensures full transparency for the profession in relation to qualified insurers meeting, or not meeting, generally accepted standards of financial strength.
- Notification of claims by 30th November, 2011 - All claims made against solicitors' firms and circumstances that may give rise to such a claim should be notified to the firm’s insurer as soon as possible. In particular, claims made between 1st December 2010 and 30th November 2011 (both dates inclusive) should be notified by 30th November 2011. In addition, firms should comply with any notification requirements set out in the insurance policy.
The minimum terms and conditions for PII were amended in the Solicitors Acts 1954 to 2008 (Professional Indemnity Insurance) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 409 of 2001) to permit firms to report claims or circumstances of which they are aware prior to expiry of the cover to their insurer within three working days immediately following the end of the coverage period, subject to the provision of evidence that the claim was notified to the firm before expiry of the coverage period. This is due to the current difficulty in practice of firms notifying insurers before expiry of cover of a claim arising in the last few days of cover.
It should be noted that this three day window does not apply to the current indemnity period. Therefore firms must notify insurers of all claims and circumstances of which they are aware by 30th November, 2011.
- Certificates of Good Standing - Firms are not required to provide certificates of good standing with the common proposal form in order to renew their insurance. Insurers did not seek to have a requirement to provide this certificate included in the common proposal form
- Aon Critical Risk Management Controls Questionnaire - Members of the profession have raised concerns with the Society regarding the recently circulated Aon Critical Risk Management Controls Questionnaire. It was queried whether this form amounted to a mandatory supplemental form to the common proposal form. We have received confirmation from XL that completion of this questionnaire is voluntary and is not required in order to receive a quotation from XL. We have also received confirmation from Aon that failure of a firm to return the said form will in no way reflect on terms they receive from XL, as these forms will not be forwarded to XL. This is due to the fact that the service is being run by Aon Risk Management Team.
Guide to Renewal
The Guide to Renewal provides tips for renewal, information on changes to the PII terms for the 2011/2012 indemnity period, guidelines for completing the common proposal form (see link below) and a guide to insurers and brokers.
Common Proposal Form
A Common Proposal Form has been introduced for the 2011/12 indemnity period which can be completed online. A supplementary claim form and Financial Services Questionnaire are also available, if required. You can download these below:
Insurers
The list of qualified insurers and Qualified Insurers Agreement for 2011/2012 can be downloaded below.
It should be noted that the minimum level of participation in the Special Purpose Fund for any insurer who signs the Qualified Insurers Agreement will be 1%.
Brokers
The following brokers have expressed their willingness to arrange PII cover from the qualified insurers for the 2011/2012 indemnity period. Please note that a guide to insurers and brokers is available in the Guide to Renewal.
Confirmation of Cover Forms
PII policy documentation
The following document contains the PII policy documentation for the 2011/2012 indemnity period including the ARP policy, ARP premium schedule, run-off policy, ARP run-off policy, run-off rules and SPF Management Committee rules. Download the policy document.
More information
For more PII information and a list of Risk Management Consultants, see Other PII Resources.
PII Helpline for Solicitors
The Law Society operates a helpline to assist firms in dealing with the professional indemnity insurance queries. The helpline can be contacted by phoning 01 879 8790 or emailing piihelpline@lawsociety.ie and is available Monday to Friday.
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