You have either recently renewed your professional indemnity insurance cover with effect from 1 November 2005 or, alternatively, are arranging to renew your cover with effect from 1 January 2006. You should note that if you are changing from an insurer who provided cover to 31 October to an insurer who provides cover for the calendar year, you should ensure that you have cover for a 14-month period – that is, 1 November 2005 through to 31 December 2006 – in order to have no break in your cover. This is a matter of the utmost importance.

As professional indemnity insurance operates on a claimsmade basis rather than an occurrence basis, the relevant cover is the cover in place when you first become aware of a potential claim and notify your insurer accordingly and not the cover in place when you provided the legal services.

The society must receive confirmation of cover on behalf of each solicitor/practice in order to issue a practising certificate. Therefore, it is essential that the society is in receipt of confirmation that you have professional indemnity insurance in place prior to issuing you with a practising certificate in January 2006. In that regard, you should ensure that either you, your insurer or your broker has furnished the society with confirmation that you have professional indemnity cover in place with effect from either 1 November 2005 or 1 January 2006 (precedent forms of confirmation of cover are available from the society).

If your professional indemnity insurance is not in place on 1 January 2006 and cover commences from a date after 1 January, your practising certificate will issue with effect from the date of the commencement of your professional indemnity insurance cover. For example, if your professional indemnity insurance cover commences on 7 January 2006, your practising certificate will issue with effect from 7 January 2006 (not 1 January 2006). The consequent gap in the period for which you have held a practising certificate may give rise to problems. In this regard, you should note that it is not possible in such circumstances, even by application to the president of the High Court, to have your practising certificate made effective from 1 January, as such an order is not provided for within the Professional Indemnity Insurance Regulations (SI no 312 of 1995).

You should contact the society if you wish to seek clarification on any issues raised.