Solicitors’ top-up season 2019
June is fast approaching and it’s a big month in the insurance industry for law firms, especially around professional indemnity.
London Australia Underwriting (LAUW) has been insuring solicitors for more than a decade and 2019 is no exception.
LAUW has a range of insurance products specifically design for law firms.
Partnership protection management liability (PPML)
Many law firms, although not incorporated within the meaning of the Corporations Law, have adopted corporation-style management structures.
Adopting that structure may expose the firm, individual partners, and non-partners responsible for running the firm, to claims arising from managing the firm.
There are significant weaknesses in generally available insurance:
• Directors & officers’ liability can be purchased only for incorporated service and administration companies.
• An indemnity provided by the firm to a partnership board member is not insured.
• EPL insurance generally does not extend to provide cover to partners.
Recognising those weaknesses, partnership protection was developed to provide meaningful cover for partnerships, including those with corporation-style management structures.
Professional indemnity – excess of loss
Professional indemnity is a compulsory insurance requirement for Australian law firms.
LAUW can offer up to $20m capacity with a minimum attachment point of $10m at competitive rates.
Cyber
Australian law firms are prime targets for cyber attacks.
LAUW has been providing cyber insurance solutions to law firms since 2014 and has first-hand claims experience.
The main breaches we come across are ransomware attacks and business emails being compromised. Both those breaches are just the starting point of a cyber policy, as they tend to lead to business interruption claims.
LAUW has had great success by dealing with attacks quickly through our 1800 BREACH (273224) number, which is monitored 24/7 and connect directly to our dedicated Incident Response Team.
News Alert March 2019