The Law Society of England and Wales is asking the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to extend the solicitors indemnity fund (SIF) cover beyond September’s intended cut off point.
Although the SRA intended to close the fund this year, the financial plight of many firms because of Covid-19 is making it a lot more difficult to access insurance products, especially PII in a hardening market environment.
The Law Society Gazette has reported that the stakeholders running the scheme, Solicitors Indemnity Fund Limited, are completing an actuarial analysis to assess the impact if the scheme were to extend by an additional three years.
The SRA have a number of opportunities before the September cut-off deadline to discuss the extension and a decision is forecast to be made before the September deadline lapses.
The Law Society has also speculated that the SRA could use resources and funds from the compensation fund to help finance the SIF extension.
