Navigating a hard market during Covid-19

The Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) market has been in a difficult position for the past few years. 

As the insurance industry relies heavily on the relationship between client, broker and underwriter the recent challenges caused by the Covid-19 situation has exacerbated this issue, impacting business continuity. 

It is thought that the total losses from Covid-19 could total over a hundred billion pounds. As a result, underwriters are under a wall of pressure, a situation which we have had to navigate to ensure our clients get the result they need. There is also the prospect of a recession in the property market and from our experience we have seen that this causes allegations of negligence on the part of surveyors from undervaluation and unfortunately, conveyancers often become implicated in this problem. Although not specific to licensed conveyancers, it is clear that the market is not as healthy as one would wish. In these conditions maintaining strong relationships with your Insurer and broker is more important than ever.

Risk Management: Steps to take

In terms of risk management, we understand that the clients of licensed conveyancers are always under pressure, as for many, this is usually the largest purchase or sale that they will make in their lifetime. Due to the difficulties caused by Covid-19 we advise you to ensure that the details of the transaction are made clear to your client and that you take the time to walk them through each stage of the process. If you are in the unfortunate position of making staff redundant, we recommend that you ensure the files they were working on are taken over in a prompt manner and that the history of the transaction is visible and can be easily referred to.  We also recommend changing the system access details of those who have left the business.

Cyber-criminals are also taking advantage of the current situation and we ask you to be extra vigilant at this time to protect your business from this risk, particularly in terms of client identification. For more information on cyber security and steps you can take to mitigate this risk and maintain business resilience visit our Cyber Insurance webpage.

It is difficult to know how long the current lockdown will last and we are very aware that this will be having a significant impact on the profession. Our team of experts are always on hand to provide advice and assistance regarding your policy with us.