Irish Professional Indemnity Insurance fund faces wind down

Further news has been reported of the difficulties facing the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund, the not-for-profit fund established in 1987 to provide solicitors in Ireland with professional indemnity insurance at the cheapest rates possible.

According to thejournal.ie, a Special Meeting of Ireland’s Law Society has been called to consider the winding down of the Fund. Citing the Irish Times as its source, the report points out that, given the Fund’s deficit, the only alternative to the immediate liquidation of the Fund (which would have its own financial consequences for solicitors) would require an injection of €14m to €16m to ensure an orderly wind down. And the only possible source for that kind of funding would be the Law Society itself.

Professional indemnity insurance for hundreds of different professions can be easily arranged, at highly competitive prices, at 0333 3211 403.

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Insurer’s concerns over Professional Indemnity Insurance for solicitors

Whilst there is widespread agreement that something needs to be done to address the problems in the market for solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance, there is less agreement over exactly what changes should be made.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) recently made a number of proposals, including a reduction - from 12 months to six - in the amount of time any firm having difficulty renewing its PII should be allowed to stay in the Assigned Risk Pool; and ultimately for the abolition of the Pool altogether and its replacement with a three month extended policy period for affected firms.

But major insurance company, Zurich, has announced that it does not believe that these proposals will meet the real challenges. It may be a case of too little, too late. Zurich is concerned that without substantive change this year, it is likely to be another very difficult period for solicitors seeking to renew their professional indemnity insurance.

Professional indemnity insurance, at highly competitive prices, is available for hundreds of different professions at 0333 3211 403.

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Professional indemnity insurance claims excluded from takeover bid

Another professional indemnity story from Ireland as Anglo Irish Bank together with the US-based Liberty Mutual bid to take over the core business of Quinn Insurance Limited from its administrators. But ‘core’ is the key word here.

Anglo/Liberty do not want to take over the liabilities arising from Quinn’s already discontinued lines, including solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance. Under the proposed terms of the bid, responsibility for these claims would remain with the administrators along with a pool of assets designed to cover them.

Will this asset base be sufficient? It seems nobody is willing to speculate. But according to a report in independent.ie, solicitors’ professional indemnity had been one of the company’s heaviest loss-making areas.

For competitively-priced professional indemnity insurance, available for hundreds of different professions call at 0333 3211 403.

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New ruling means expert witnesses need to check their PII cover

For some 400 years, professionals called to give evidence in court as expert witnesses had been immune from any civil action being taken against them for the views they expressed. Not any more. In a historic ruling by the Supreme Court on 30 March 2011, that immunity was removed.

The judgement stemmed from a case involving a man who was injured in a motor accident. His defence lawyers had instructed a psychologist to appear as an expert witness and, during her testimony, she stated that the man had suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of the accident. The expert called by the defendants’ lawyers, however, argued that this was not the case and that the man was exaggerating his symptoms.

As is typical in such cases, the court ordered that the two experts should consult and produce a Joint Statement. Which they did. And the statement they prepared concluded that the man had not experienced PTSD after all. Clearly, this judgement was likely to have a significant effect on the damages the man was likely to receive and he took action against the expert witness his lawyers had instructed on the grounds that she had been negligent in signing the Joint Statement.

In this subsequent case, the judge ruled against the man and upheld the expert witness’s immunity. Although he did state that a superior court, with the power to effect such a decision, might conclude that there was a public policy justification for overruling his decision. Which is exactly what the Supreme Court did.

End of immunity for expert witnesses. And a cue for any professional who might be called to provide such a service to ensure that he or she has some robust professional indemnity insurance cover in place!

Call at 0333 3211 403.

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Healthcare in the headlines again

Story in the Mirror Online today, headlined NHS told to cut tonsil, wisdom teeth and other "low value" ops to cut costs.

Well, I think we all knew that something like this would eventually happen - as hospitals are likely get more and more desperate for their share of money to carry out their business, the types of operation mentioned in the article (tonsillitis, cataract ops, hip replacements, knee joint repairs, ­treatments for wisdom teeth and varicose veins) would be subject to some form of *ahem* priority rethink.

Where could this leave ordinary folk like us though? I mean, I know plenty people who've had the wisdom tooth thing done- (I will spare you the graphic details except to say that one story in particular still makes go a bit queasy even though it was told to me over a decade ago!) - and believe me, if that's going on in your jaw, your brain will most certainly NOT be sending 'low priority' signals to the brain's pain centres.

While on the short term this could definitely be a time of fractious transition, in the longer term it might mean who knows what? We'll have to wait and see. In terms of people seeking affordable health insurance, there will almost certainly be an increase in uptake.

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A reminder that Professional Indemnity Insurance premiums are related to risk

As a general rule, most financial advisers would not recommend transferring pension funds from a defined benefit scheme to a defined contributions one. In the past, concerns over taking such a course of action have been expressed by both the Pensions Regulator and the FSA. But according to John Lawson of Standard Life, as reported in moneymarketing.co.uk, there can be advantages for certain people, particularly in terms of flexibility.

However, it can still be a risky think to do. That’s why providing advice in this area is only allowed if you hold the necessary qualifications. And why, even if you are skilled and fully competent, you’ll probably have to pay higher premiums for your professional indemnity insurance.

Looking for highly competitive professional indemnity insurance ? Call at 0333 3211 403.

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