Price rises for Irish lawyers attract insurers

Quinn Insurance has written to Irish solicitors seeking to extend its professional indemnity (PI) cover there, claiming some premiums talked about were too high, the Irish Post reports.

A spokesman said: ‘‘Some of the minimum premiums cited in the media for sole practitioners are high’’.

‘‘Practices that have had considerable conveyancing income over the past number of years, and those with poor claims history, will experience the greatest increases," he said.

‘‘Practices with little or no claims which have demonstrated strong compliance and work practices will not be affected to the same extent."

Crisis meeting

The letter was sent as hundreds of solicitors attended an emergency meeting in Dublin to discuss the crisis over insurance cover.

The Dublin Solicitors Bar Association, which represents almost half the country’s practising solicitors, organised the meeting, which was attended by around 230 people, mostly from medium to smaller firms.

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