Professional indemnity insurance—solicitors

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced in partnership with Jane Williams of Clyde & Co LLP and Lucy Murphy of Clyde & Co LLP
Practice notes

Professional indemnity insurance—solicitors

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Produced in partnership with Jane Williams of Clyde & Co LLP and Lucy Murphy of Clyde & Co LLP

Practice notes
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This Practice Note sets out the professional indemnity insurance requirements for solicitors, including detailed guidance on the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)’s Minimum Terms and Conditions of Professional Indemnity Insurance (MTC).

Regulatory setting

Who is the regulator?

The SRA is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales. It derives its powers from statute and makes rules including the SRA Accounts Rules, the Code of Conduct and the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules (IIR).

Is insurance compulsory for practice/membership?

All SRA regulated firms must have ‘qualifying insurance’ provided by a ‘participating insurer’ (IIR, r 2.1). The minimum level of insurance is also dictated by the SRA; for limited companies and limited liability partnerships the minimum level of cover is £3m, for partnerships and sole practitioners the minimum level of cover is £2m. In addition, firms must take out ‘adequate and appropriate cover’ for their clients’ needs (IIR, r 3.1).

What is the regulator’s rationale for having MTC?

The SRA MTC are set out at Annex 1 of the IIR.

Jane Williams
Jane Williams

Solicitor, Clyde & Co LLP

Jane is a professional indemnity specialist with extensive experience of defending claims for solicitors, insurance brokers and financial professionals.

Jane is a partner who defends professional negligence claims and advises insurers on related coverage issues. She has acted on a wide range of claims defending solicitors, insurance brokers, financial and other professionals and has extensive experience of both litigation and alternative dispute resolution. She also advises professionals and their insurers on risk management and regulatory issues.

Jane qualified as a barrister before becoming a solicitor in 2001. She has over 20 years’ experience in the professional indemnity market which includes a year on secondment at a major insurer, and has been described in the Legal 500 as a "true star". She enjoys giving seminars to clients and writes regularly for in-house and external publications.

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Lucy Murphy
Lucy Murphy

Solicitor, Clyde & Co LLP

Lucy is a professional indemnity specialist.

Lucy defends professional negligence claims and is a member of the Professional and Financial Disputes team in London. She is regularly instructed by London market insurers to defend claims against solicitors and insurance brokers. She has acted on a wide range of claims but has particular experience of matters involving trust and probate issues. She also advises insurers on coverage disputes and provides robust and commercial advice. She has been singled out for praise in the Legal 500.

Lucy has extensive experience of the professional indemnity market having undertaken three secondments at major insurance companies as well as a secondment in the legal team of a major London broking firm. Lucy also enjoys giving seminars to clients.

Experience:

• Acting for defendant solicitors in a claim arising from five years’ of family litigation relating to an underlying probate dispute.
• Assisting a firm of solicitors in relation to breaches of the Solicitors' Accounts Rules and third party claims arising from the dishonest appropriation of funds by one of its partners over an extended period of time.
• Coverage advice and arbitration for insurers as to which policy year responds to claims arising out of breaches of the Solicitors' Accounts Rules.
• Claims against insurance brokers in both negligence and breach of contract.
• The successful defence of a claim at trial against a housing consultant arising out of the transfer of council housing stock to a registered social landlord.
• Defence of a solicitor at trial with allegations involving corruption and bribery.

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Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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