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07 August 2024
Issue: 8083 / Categories: Legal News , Insurance / reinsurance
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Conditions sunny for professional indemnity insurance

Solicitors are enjoying a buoyant mood in the professional indemnity insurance (PII) market, with rate decreases and improved stability

Three insurers have entered the PII market while none have left, according to broker Howden Group’s Solicitors’ PII market report, published this week. It reports ‘an increase in appetite’, with ‘a number of underwriters relaxing restrictions on new business, with some increasing the amount of conveyancing work they were prepared to consider as a percentage of a firm’s overall gross fees’.

While longer-term policies ‘all but disappeared’ during the hard market, 26% of Howden’s clients for the 1 April 2024 renewal opted for longer periods (18 months being the most common).

Looking ahead to the 1 October renewal, Howden predicts the favourable market will continue, with excess layer rates improving throughout the year. However, it advises firms to start the renewal process early due to ‘increased scrutiny of financials’ by insurers.

Issue: 8083 / Categories: Legal News , Insurance / reinsurance
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
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Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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