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A Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) discussion paper looks at striking the right balance in providing financial protections for the public, and the cost for firms and individual solicitors.

Getting the price point right for indemnity insurance protections will support new growth and innovation in the legal sector, enabling new firms and individuals to enter the market with new products and services at competitive prices.

The SRA is also looking at ensuring that its public compensation fund cover provides the right safety net for the public, particularly the most vulnerable and those in need. It wants to make sure that compensation arrangements remain fit for purpose in the changing legal market.

Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive, said: “Professional Indemnity Insurance and compensation arrangements play an important part in our regulatory model. We need to strike the right balance between freeing up law firms to grow and providing appropriate consumer protection. This consultation is aimed at moving us towards a more appropriate regulatory model in this area”.

Interested parties have until 16 September to feed back to the SRA. Feedback resulting from the discussion paper will inform formal proposals for indemnity insurance and public compensation protection early next year.

HMRC are increasingly focussed on aggressive tax avoidance and tax evasion. Accountants and financial advisers can be the subject of litigation if involved in such arrangements, even if only acting as introducers and not offering formal advice. Click here to read Zurich’s Insiders article on HMRC’s tax avoidance crackdown.

As part of Zurich’s ongoing customer and broker research programme they recently spoke to 200 mid-sized construction firms about the key challenges they face and what they are doing to address them. Click here to read about more about this recent study by Zurich, testing what’s keeping construction companies awake at night.

Chancellor George Osborne has done his bit to put yet another dent in the insurance industry’s attempts to keep insurance premiums affordable, by increasing IPT by over 50% from 6% to 9.5%. This is due to take effect from November 2015. For BIBA’s response to this increase click here.