1 April 2026 solicitors’ PII renewal review – the soft market continues

If you renewed your professional indemnity insurance on 1 April, we anticipate you will have had a relatively trouble-free experience. As we noted in our update for the 1 October 2025 renewal, the market has very much returned to its soft cycle, with no signs of hardening any time soon. 

We will be publishing a full analysis of the 1 April renewal, along with our outlook for the rest of 2026, in the next edition of our Market Report which will come out in July. In the meantime, the key points to note are set out below.

Capacity

There is plenty of capacity in the market at the moment. No insurers have left the market this year and there have been a number of new entrants. There are currently 52 participating insurers listed on the SRA’s website for the 2025/26 indemnity period, which is the highest number it has ever been and double the number it was when the hard market started in 2019 (26). 

At Howden, we were also able to provide clients with exclusive access to two facilities underwritten by A-rated insurers. In addition, we maintained strong, direct relationships with a broad panel of long-established A-rated insurers in the solicitors’ PII market.

Appetite

The increased capacity drove strong competition among insurers, as they sought to secure new business to offset reduced renewal income and business lost to competitors. Incumbent insurers were also highly focused on retaining good firms on their books, with most willing to match improved terms offered by a competitor in order to keep the business. 

As we noted last October, several insurers had already adopted a more flexible approach regarding underwriting, particularly in respect of higher-risk practice areas. This trend continued, and even firms with a significant proportion of conveyancing work had a choice of insurer options this time round. In reality, the only firms attracting limited insurer interest were those engaged in high-volume consumer claims work.

Premiums

The majority of our clients benefited from rate reductions. It is important to note, however, that a reduction in rate does not necessarily result in a lower premium, as this is influenced by a range of factors. A key factor for insurers is a firm’s overall gross fees. Many of our clients experienced increases in gross fees over the past 12 months and, where this growth was significant, it resulted in a higher premium despite rates being lower than in the previous policy period.

Policy period lengths

Almost all insurers were offering longer-term policies as standard, typically for 18 months. This was the case even for firms projecting significant fee income growth – circumstances in which longer-term policies would usually be less attractive to insurers, but which made the option particularly attractive to firms.

Many of our clients took advantage of this and opted for an 18-month policy at this renewal. The benefits are clear: longer-term cover reduces administrative burden, secures favourable rates, and provides greater financial certainty over an extended period.

Excess layers

As with the primary layer, the excess layer market has experienced a notable increase in capacity, which has driven continued rate improvements. As such, many of our clients securing up to a £10 million combined limit of indemnity achieved meaningful savings on their excess layer premiums. Even for limits above £10 million, rates are now beginning to soften – historically, pricing at this level has remained relatively stable, reflecting the low level of claims activity in this space. We also noticed that some insurers were prepared to offer higher primary layers of insurance to clients than previously.

It is important to note, however, that excess layer policies are not subject to the SRA’s Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTCs) for professional indemnity insurance. As a result, policy wordings and coverage can vary significantly between insurers. At Howden, we provide tailored advice to help ensure that your excess layer policy aligns with your firm’s specific risk profile and coverage requirements.

Premium financing

In previous updates, we noted that firms were finding it increasingly difficult to secure financing for their insurance premiums. Credit providers were requesting more detailed financial information, applying stricter lending criteria, and taking longer to reach decisions – a trend that has continued.

That said, the position was more mixed for this renewal; while some firms encountered challenges, others with stronger credit profiles were able to explore the market and secure more competitive interest rates from premium finance providers. We also observed that a greater number of clients taking out 12-month policies chose to pay in full upfront rather than use financing, whereas those opting for longer policy periods generally continued to rely on finance.

Given that financing remains a challenge for many firms, we recommend arranging premium funding as early as possible – particularly if your firm’s financial position may be less robust than others. 

Cyber

There is an increasing interest in cyber insurance by firms, although adoption of cyber insurance remains low amongst the legal profession, despite the very real threat of cybercrime to law firms. There has also been an increase in capacity recently which has led to small rate reductions, despite an increase in claims activity.  At Howden, we recommend that all firms obtain cyber insurance if they can afford to do so.

AI

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in legal practice, underwriters are now including questions into proposal forms regarding its use. Their focus is on how AI is being applied across various practice areas, the governance policies and procedures in place, and whether staff are receiving appropriate training.

Whilst there have been no significant AI-related claims to date, its rapid adoption suggests this is likely to change in the near future. Against this backdrop, firms should ensure they are well prepared to address these questions clearly and comprehensively when completing proposal forms.

Proposal Forms

Most insurers were willing to accept short-form declarations instead of requiring firms to complete lengthy proposal forms – a welcome development for many of our clients. That said, insurers typically request a full proposal form every three years to ensure they have a full understanding of a firm’s risk profile, and some firms prefer to complete full proposal forms in any event to make sure they have all relevant information to hand if required. 

Overall, this renewal season was very positive for our clients, and we expect this trend to continue for the rest of 2026.