Despite various rumours that the Solicitors PII market was going to harden this year, the SRA has recently announced that total premium has in fact fallen by £16.4M this year. This was from £254.7M in 2011 to £239.3M this year.

For the second year in a row, XL insurance company remained the most active player in the Solicitors PII market. The SRA announced that they wrote £39.4M of premiums, securing 16.4% of the overall market share. However, this was in contrast to last year where they wrote £46.7M in premium, acquiring 18.2% of the market

The unrated insurers were very active this year, writing £29.6M of the total Premium and thus securing a 12.3% share of the market. Of the four ‘Unrated’ insurers’, new entrant, Balva wrote £16.4m in Gross Written premium this year. This has given them 6.8% in market share, putting them slightly ahead of rated insurers; Barbican Syndicate 1955 (6.8% market share) & Aviva Insurance (3% market share). Both Traveler’s and QBE witnessed a 1% reduction in market share this year; each respectively securing a 10.9% share in the market. More notably Inter Hannover were far less active than they were in 2011. This year they obtained an 8.6% share of the market. This was in stark contrast to the 12.5% they acquired in 2011.

If you are Solicitor and/or are planning to set up a new practice, Apex would be happy to have an informal discussion and discuss any of your requirements.