Many small firms had problems this year with rocketing insurance premiums. Thousands of Britain’s high street solicitors faced crippling increases to the cost of their professional indemnity insurance because of the threat of negligence cases arising from the recession. Adding to the controversey, it has emerged that complaints have been made by firms with African and Asian sounding names that insurers discriminated against them in the run up to this year’s PII renewal deadline. The Gazette reports that:

The Law Society is investigating allegations that professional indemnity brokers and insurers have discriminated against firms with African and Asian-sounding names, the Gazette has learned.

The Society received a complaint to its professional indemnity insurance helpline from a solicitor in Birmingham, claiming that insurers were providing cover late or not at all to firms which sounded as if they were run by solicitors from ethnic minorities. The solicitor said she had spoken to other firms in the region who had experienced similar problems.

She also contacted the Black Solicitors Network, which had received similar complaints from four of its members. The BSN has pressed the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority to investigate the issue, which both bodies have said they will do.

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