Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director · Last reviewed 8 July 2026
Your 1 October renewal terms have landed and something feels off. The premium has jumped without a corresponding claims event, the wording review reads as a formality, or the broker never asked about the two large property files you took on in April. Changing broker at renewal is a normal, well-trodden route for solicitors — but the SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions add a set of continuity duties that must not be broken in transit. This entry sets out what to expect, what your current broker has to release, and how to move without opening a coverage gap.
There are observable signals that your current arrangement is no longer working. The renewal premium bears no relationship to the year’s claims record. The wording review consists of a covering email rather than a written analysis. The broker did not ask about material changes — new work types, lateral hires, mergers, exit from residential conveyancing, a shift into probate or Court of Protection work. The renewal presentation went to a single qualifying insurer’s binder rather than an open-market submission across the SRA panel. There is no named broker on the file, and calls default to a rota. Any one of these on its own may be explicable. Two or three together are usually a prompt to look properly.
Under ICOBS 2 and the wider FCA client-service framework, your current broker is required to provide the information you need to make an informed decision at renewal. That includes the current wording in full, the schedule, the claims record over the required period, the renewal invitation, and any material change to terms since inception. Under Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A) the “consumer understanding” outcome applies to sole-practitioner and small-firm principals treated as consumers of the broking service. You do not owe your current broker a reason for leaving. A written request for the file is enough.
The SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTC) are the non-negotiable floor for any qualifying insurer’s wording. Continuous cover is the central point: the policy must be a claims-made contract with no gap between the outgoing and incoming years. Aggregation — how “matters, transactions or events” are grouped into a single claim — needs a fresh read at every broker change, because MTC compliance does not stop insurers from wording aggregation clauses differently across the qualifying-insurer panel. Six-year run-off is a statutory consequence of ceasing to practise; an incoming broker should confirm run-off availability and the run-off trigger before you bind. Successor practice status, if relevant to a recent merger or split, needs disclosure to the new insurer under the fair-presentation duty and can materially change the risk profile.
The mechanics are straightforward if you take them in order.
First, do not cancel or non-renew the current policy until the new one is bound. On a claims-made basis, an unbroken chain is what protects you. Second, give the incoming broker written access to the current wording, schedule and claims record so the submission can be built on the same factual base as the outgoing renewal. Third, the fair-presentation duty under section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015 continues at renewal and at every material variation; do not soften a disclosure to make the risk look better. Fourth, any circumstance already notified to the current insurer stays with that insurer — the new policy picks up on a claims-made basis from the renewal date forward, and the outgoing year handles anything notified during its own period. Fifth, read the aggregation clause on the new wording against the outgoing wording side by side. A subtle change in wording can move exposure by more than the premium delta.
The picture of a broker doing the work properly is not complicated. A named broker reads the wording. The renewal submission goes to the qualifying-insurer panel with a written analysis of the year’s changes, not a copy-paste of last year’s proposal form. Material variations mid-year are handled at the point they happen, not deferred to renewal. The fair-presentation duty is treated as a live obligation and evidenced. When we speak to solicitors moving to Apex Insurance Brokers from another broker, the common thread is that they wanted the same broker on the phone each time, and a wording review that engages with the SRA MTC rather than reciting it. That is what we set out to do, and it is why the retention rate on the solicitor book runs at 95%.
Renewal at hand?
Send us your current renewal terms and we’ll take a look. A named broker will read every submission and come back within one working day with a proper comparison.