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GAZETTE
JULY-AUGUST
1979
alternative would be the most suitable and would, in
particular, have the very important advantage that from
its inception all claims records would be available in the
one Scheme, so, for the first time ever, the profession
could really assess its own performance and negotiate
premium levels with proper statistical backing.
The "Master Policy" was in due course arranged with
a leading Insurance Group, and the fact that the insurer
receives a very large premium indeed provides the Law
Society with considerable strength to negotiate on an
"each and every claim" basis.
It was recommended that the Scheme should operate
on a "flexible premium", whereby the good risks pay less
than the bad. The latest available statistics for the Scheme
show that:-
81.1% are on "normal" risk premiums;
3.15% have a compulsory excess of cover;
9.3% have premium loadings.
Only two firms are subject to maximum premium
loadings.
This must be seen in the context of 3,100 Solicitors
practicing in the private sector, paying between them
approximately £1,000.00, per annum in premiumsm
The Scottish Law Society decided that sole
practitioners should be covered in the sum of £75,000
each and that firms of more than one Solicitor should be
covered for £50,000 per partner, up to a maximum cover
of £500,000. The Scheme also enables optional extra
cover to be arranged on negotiated terms.
In negotiating premium levels, the Scottish Law
Society insisted that quotations should be based on the
then available statistics for Scottish Solicitors only. In the
result, a sole practitioner pays at present for his cover of
£75,000 a premium of approximately £390 per annum.
A four-partner firm, pays £950 per annum for its cover
of £200,000 (£50,000 x 4); a ten-partner firm pays
£2,000 per annum for the maximum compulsory cover of
£500,000 (£50,000 x 10).
These levels compare very favourably with the U.K.,
where a three-partner firm in London pays over £2,000
per annum for cover of £150,000 (50,000 x 3).
The cover negotiated extends to all acts of omission or
commission
in everything that a Solicitor does in
Scotland.
This includes practice as Estate Agents (and
65% of all house sales in Scotland are negotiated by
Solicitors acting as such) as well as acting in other capaci-
ties such as Executors or Trustees, Company Directors or
Company Secretaries.
So far, Mr. Pritchard was happy to say, the claims
experience has been excellent. The latest available figures
show that £1,200,000 has been collected in premiums.
Twenty-six Claims Files have been opened. Six such Files
have been closed. Claims paid out amount to £6,000.
Pending claims (which may not all be sustained) amount
to £200,000.
Mr. Pritchard was in no doubt whatever that some
form of insurance, covering the entire profession without
exception, is essential and that the public is entitled to the
reassurance that if
we
make mistakes,
they
will not suffer.
Arguably, as the Solicitors' profession in Ireland is of
comparatively modest size, it should not be unduly
difficult to devise an Insurance Scheme in this Country
which would give the public maximum protection at rates
which the profession could afford. This could well require
special legislation but, in the present climate of ever-
increasing awareness of the vulnerability of professional
and public alike, such legislation might be easier to obtain
in this Country now than was the case in Scotland in the
early 1970's.
It is certainly a subject which the profession should
take further — and fast!
Bills Introduced in the Oireachtas in
1979
The following list of 1979 Bills is up to date as of 2 May, 1979
Redundancy Payments Bill, 1979 entitled An Act to
amend and extend the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967
to 1973, and to provide for other connected matters.
(Initiated 15/1/79) - No. 1 of 1979, as amended in
Committee 21/2/79; as passed by Dail Eireann 28/2/79;
as passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, 14/3/79).
The Bill provides for changes in the Redundancy Pay-
ments Scheme and also includes a provision which would
empower the Minister for Labour to appoint two
additional vice-chairmen and six additional ordinary
members to the Employment Appeals Tribunal and to
make further appointments should the workload of the
Tribunal warrant it.
Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) (Amendment) Bill,
1979, entitled An Act to amend the Tribunal of Inquiry
(Evidence) Act, 1921. (Initiated 31/1/79 - No. 2 of
1979; as passed by Dail Eireann 7/2/79; as passed by
both Houses of the Oireachtas 20/2/79).
Amends Sec. 1 of the 1921 Act relating to the con-
duct of witnesses and the giving of evidence to a Tribunal
and provides for penalties for offences under Sec. 3 of the
Bill. Vests a tribunal with the powers of the High Court or
a High Court Judge in respect of the making of Orders.
Payment of Wages Bill, 1979 entitled An Act to
provide for the payment of certain wages otherwise than
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