Howard Lickens vents his ARP frustrations

The ‘new’ minimum terms for solicitors’ professional indemnity was a missed opportunity to overhaul a market in dire need of a boost.

The reality is that this year’s requirements will be the same as last year’s. Underwriters will have to write more blank cheques to fund the Assigned Risks Pool (ARP) for another year and still have to front half the costs in 2012. Yet again the issue of the single renewal date has not been resolved, forcing insurers to decide whether they are ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the market on a year-by-year basis.

Moving away from a single renewal date does not suit all, particularly national brokers, but change would introduce much needed stability. The market is crying out for more financially secure composite insurers to come back to solicitors’ PI and I fear the lack of real action this year will keep them away.

Howard Lickens is chief executive of Clear Insurance Management.