Solicitors face steep rises in their professional indemnity (PI) premiums, as they seek cover in the open market for a second year.
Heath Lambert's executive director of financial and professional risks, Kevin Culliney, said: “I would expect to see significant hikes, in the order of 20%.”
Two insurers have already announced they are scaling back in the amount of solicitors' PI business they are prepared to take on.
Saturn's director Trevor Kirby said: “We are not taking on any new business other than sole practitioners.”
He said Saturn had renewed half its solicitors' PI cover in March on 18-month contracts, but the rest would only be renewed as a 50/50 deal with other insurers.
Denham acting underwriter Peter Matson said: “We renewed our facility with HSBC. We're not quoting for anyone else.”
He denied reports it was looking to divest itself of the HSBC business. “At this moment in time I would not see us ending our relationship with HSBC,” he said.
