Ink dips into solicitors' market

Giles-owned Ink Underwriting has secured fresh capacity just weeks ahead of the 1 October renewal period and is looking to fill the gap left by Quinn Insurance’s withdrawal from the solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance market.

Ink has teamed up with specialist broker St Giles Legal and Professional Risks to launch a new solicitors’ professional indemnity insurance facility, first revealed on insurancetimes.co.uk last week.

The burning question on the lips of solicitors’ PI professionals is: can Ink’s new facility for solicitors become a saving grace for the troubled market?

The MGA’s managing director, Mike Smith, says yes.

Fresh capacity

It’s a new opportunity for Ink and comes at a time when the solicitors' PI market is desperate for new capacity. Insurers have pulled out of the market because of the exposure to fraud and the costs of paying into the assigned risks pool following an overhaul of the system.

The underwriter has sourced its new capacity from Greenlight Re, while policies will be issued through Danish insurer Alpha Insurance A/S. The facility is targeting firms with between one and 25 partners and will be issued through brokers.

Smith would not reveal exactly how much capacity the business could offer to the market, only saying that it was “tens of millions".

He told Insurance Times: “We haven’t got an upper limit of capacity. We will be selective on the risk that we take to make sure we are taking profitable cases.”

Potential bloodbath

Ink and St Giles are targeting brokers with existing books of PI business. A large number of broker’s solicitor clients have been left in limbo by the withdrawal of Quinn Insurance, currently in administration, from the PI market. Added to the likes of Hiscox and Catlin as insurers who no longer have an appetite for this business, the 1 October renewal period has the potential to be a bloodbath.

Smith acknowledged that it was a “strange market at the moment” but preferred to look towards the opportunity of having a positive impact.

“It is a great opportunity at a point where Quinn as the market leader is not going to be there. It is a great opportunity to take a slice of the market and hopefully at a rate that can make a return for the underwriters. Where we believe we can underwrite the cases at a profit, we are looking to help those solicitors by providing cover.”

The right stuff

To avoid a complete disaster, Ink’s facility will need to focus on profit over volume in this high-risk sector. Rates are high and pricing of business will need to be spot on if they are to avoid exposing themselves to massive claims, particularly if targeting sole practitioners (small firms) - the rump of Quinn’s book.

“We want to make sure we are writing the right risks at the right rates rather than having a certain amount of capacity we have to fill,” Smith said.

Ink’s current broker base will be the main beneficiaries of this scheme, but it will see it as an opportunity to forge new relationships. Westinsure, the broker network it acquired last month, will also come into the picture now that Ink has the ability to roll this out across all of its 200 members.

“We are looking to work closely with the brokers who have clients and perspective clients that are solicitors. We are looking to help those brokers that would have gone to those markets naturally that are now stuck without a market,” said Smith.