The 1 October renewal — a month-by-month walkthrough for SRA-regulated solicitor firms

Reviewed by Matthew Bartlett, Director · Last reviewed 2026-06-22

The SRA participating insurers renew the vast majority of England and Wales solicitor PI on 1 October every year. This is what a small or mid-size practice should be doing from June through to the day the new policy incepts.

Why 1 October?

The 1 October convention is a market artefact, not a statutory requirement. When the SRA opened up the qualifying-insurer market in 2000, insurers coordinated on a common renewal date to simplify the annual cycle. Every SRA participating insurer holds the vast majority of its book to 30 September, quotes for 1 October, and clears the market in the last two weeks of September.

A firm can technically renew off-cycle — the MTC says nothing about the date. In practice, off-cycle renewals are more expensive, harder to shop, and produce a run-off / new-policy interaction that few firms want to unpick. Unless there is a compelling reason (a merger, an acquisition, a fundamental change of practice profile), stay on 1 October.

June — the audit month

Ninety to a hundred days out from renewal. This is when the firm assembles the raw material a broker will need to present the risk.

1. Fee income by work type. The last three financial years, split by conveyancing (residential and commercial), private client (wills, probate, tax), litigation (civil, commercial, family), corporate, and any other material category. Underwriters price on this mix.
2. Claims and circumstances history. The five most recent years, with dates, brief description, current reserves, and status. Do not omit circumstances that were notified but did not develop — insurers will find them via CUE or Claims and Underwriting Exchange.
3. Fee-earner headcount. Partners, associates, paralegals, part-time practitioners. Include qualification date and any period of professional inactivity.
4. File-review evidence. Independent file reviews, second-partner sign-off protocols, any compliance monitoring. Insurers price down for firms with an evidenced quality-control regime.
5. Regulatory record. Any SRA notifications, ongoing SRA investigations, adverse decisions of the SDT. Disclose in full; the Insurance Act 2015 fair-presentation duty applies.

See our Insurance Act 2015 fair-presentation reference.

July — the broker instruction

Around ninety days out, instruct a broker if you haven't already. If your current broker has been servicing you well and the market is stable for your class of work, you may choose to renew with them; if the market has moved (as it has for several years across firms with conveyancing exposure), consider a second opinion in parallel. Two brokers should not approach the same insurer with the same risk on the same day — insurers block the second submission — so agree beforehand which broker takes which insurer.

The broker's job in July is to complete the SRA proposal form, prepare a supplementary narrative that presents the risk positively, and approach the qualifying insurers most likely to price the risk keenly. A specialist broker will know which insurers are keen on your profile in the current cycle and which have shifted away.

See our comparison of scheme brokers vs specialist brokers.

August — quotations arrive

Insurers typically return terms during August. The first quotes are often not the best quotes — insurers negotiate through the broker with counter-offers, sub-limit adjustments, higher excess in return for lower premium, and specific coverage carve-outs. This is where the broker earns their fee.

Common issues at quote stage:

• Cyber and social engineering sub-limits. The SRA MTC covers cyber-related civil claims, but many insurers apply a sub-limit for social-engineering / diversion-of-funds losses. See our cyber-PI overlap under SRA MTC.
• Aggregation of loss. The MTC uses "matters or transactions that are related" as the aggregation trigger. Some insurers add clarifying language — always check. See aggregation clauses by regulator.
• Retroactive date. The MTC is silent on retroactive dates, but insurers commonly write on a full retroactive basis. Any restriction is a red flag. See retroactive-date discipline.
• Innocent-partner cover. The MTC requires cover for innocent partners in respect of dishonest partners; some insurers add exclusions or sub-limits that would breach the MTC.

Mid-September — decision, then bind

By around 15 September, the firm should be in a position to choose between the offers, or to escalate to a further round of negotiation. Do not leave the choice to 30 September — that removes negotiating room and can leave the firm exposed to the Extended Policy Period if the last-minute insurer withdraws.

Points to check before binding:

• Named insurer is on the current SRA list of qualifying insurers for the 2026/27 year. Non-qualifying-insurer cover does not meet the MTC.
• Limit of indemnity meets the £2m per claim minimum (£3m for LLPs and companies), and any higher-limit top-up is either integrated or expressly stated to sit above the primary layer.
• Excess is affordable and each-and-every rather than aggregate (or vice versa if the firm has budgeted for aggregate).
• Endorsements and warranties are consistent with fair presentation and the firm's actual practice.
• The Terms of Business Agreement (TOBA) between the broker and the firm has been provided and reviewed.

30 September — 1 October — the crossover

At 23:59 on 30 September the old policy expires. At 00:00 on 1 October the new policy incepts. If both policies are with qualifying insurers on MTC terms, coverage is continuous — the new policy picks up any circumstance-based notification obligations from the old policy in the usual claims-made way.

If you have not been able to arrange cover by 1 October, the SRA MTC's Extended Policy Period kicks in. See below.

If you can't get cover — the Extended Policy Period and Cessation Period

A firm that has been unable to secure a qualifying insurer for the coming year enters the Extended Policy Period at 00:00 on 1 October. This is a mandatory extension of the previous year's policy on the same terms and premium, for up to 30 days initially, and up to 90 days total. During the EPP the firm can continue practising and continue trying to place cover.

If the firm has not placed cover by the end of the 90-day EPP, it enters the Cessation Period — a further 60 days during which the firm cannot take on new business and must arrange orderly wind-down or transfer of matters. If cover is placed during the Cessation Period, the firm can resume normal business. If not, at the end of the Cessation Period the firm has to close.

See our EPP / Cessation Period decision flowchart.

Common mistakes we see year after year

1. Leaving it until September. Every year a proportion of firms turn up to a broker in the second week of September looking for cover for 1 October. The best insurers close their books by then. The firm ends up with whatever remains, which is often materially more expensive.
2. Under-disclosing a circumstance. A file that "might turn into something" often does. The IA 2015 fair-presentation duty is not optional. If the underwriter finds out post-inception that a known circumstance was withheld, the policy can be avoided under IA 2015 s.8.
3. Treating higher premium as a broker failure. Sometimes the market has moved for a reason — a claim, a change in profile, a spike in a work type the insurer no longer wants. A good broker will explain why and what to do; a bad broker will blame the insurer and try again next year.
4. Missing the interaction with run-off. A firm that plans to retire the following year should think about run-off cover NOW — the market for six-year run-off is different again from the market for annual renewal, and the price point is often higher than firms expect. See run-off cover explained.
5. Failing to review the TOBA and IDD documents. Under the FCA ICOBS rules, the broker must provide these documents before contract. A firm that signs off without reading them may find later that the broker's remuneration or conflicts position was not what it thought.

A one-page timeline to keep on the wall

Related Apex references

• Solicitors PI Insurance UK Guide 2026 — the pillar
• Solicitors PII Market Report — Smaller Firms UK 2026
• EPP / Cessation Period decision flowchart
• Solicitor scheme brokers explained
• Scheme broker vs specialist broker
• Aggregation clauses by regulator
• Insurance Act 2015 fair presentation
• PI renewal timing playbook
• Run-off cover explained