Making the most of the Legal Services Act 2007

14 July, 2016

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers today urged the SRA to dismantle a major barrier to firms exercising freedoms created by the Legal Services Act 2007.

Responding to the SRA’s consultation, ‘Removing barriers to switching regulators’ the CLC welcomed proposals for waivers of the automatic requirements for run-off cover to be purchased when a firm transfers from SRA regulation to another front-line regulator. The specialist property law regulator pressed the SRA to ensure that it then dismantles barriers completely as part of its review of professional indemnity insurance that is promised for later this year.

Chief Executive of the CLC, Sheila Kumar said: ‘The SRA’s proposals, which will enable firms to exercise a choice that was given to them by Parliament in the 2007 Act, are very welcome. Requiring firms that transferred from SRA regulation to take out run-off cover when they were continuing in business and had ongoing indemnity insurance was not justifiable. It has acted to stop practices being able to choose a regulator that is tailored to their work. These changes come in the wake of the CLC’s own improvements to its PII regime which now includes run-off cover free at the point of closure for all firms under the new Participating Insurers Agreement and so further enhances consumer protection.’

The CLC’s response to the SRA’s consultation is available on the CLC’s website and the consultation itself is available on the SRA website.