PII premiums point towards hardening market

Fewer than 10% of financial advisers have been offered a decreased Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) premium this year, pointing towards a "hardening insurance market".

PII premiums point towards hardening market

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Research carried out for the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) by NMG Consulting, found that one in three advisers had been offered an increased PII premium while 44% received the same rate as last year.

Of the 31% offered an increased premium, the research found that rates had risen by an average of 14%.

According to APFA, the findings further highlight the need for a "long stop" or advisers.

Director at APFA Chris Hannant said: “These findings offer further evidence of a hardening insurance market for advisers, driven by a compensation culture and the legacy of events like Arch Cru, Keydata and Catalyst.

“Without a long stop, the liabilities of companies have no limit, and therefore when insurers calculate risk it is open-ended, which drives premiums up.”

He added that the Financial Conduct Authority was planning to consider the case for a 15-year long stop on complaints to the Financial Ombudsmen service for personal investment firms during the next 12 months.

“This is something we’ve long campaigned for and it would be a huge step forward for the industry.”

PII is a form of liability insurance that helps protect financial advisers and companies from bearing the full cost of defending against a negligence claim made by a client and the damages potentially procured in such a lawsuit.

It focuses on alleged failure to perform on the part of, financial loss caused by, and error or omission in the service or product sold by the policyholder.

Chief executive of the Federation of European Independent Financial Advisers (FEIFA) Paul Stanfield also says a long-stop would benefit the PI insurance market.

"Over the last couple of years or so we have seen, at FEIFA, a contraction in the PII market," he said. "Insurers and underwriters seem increasingly less interested in, and ever more negatively disposed towards, the IFA sector with regards to this sort of cover.

"I am sure that the lack of a long-stop in the UK, and the prevalence of a growing compensation culture generally, are two of the key drivers behind this.

"In the international, expat-oriented adviser marketplace this seems to have squeezed the availability of PI insurance quite dramatically, particularly from UK suppliers.”

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