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Bar Council is pleased to inform that we have successfully negotiated with our insurers for a 7.7% reduction in Professional Indemnity (PI) premium to RM1,200 per lawyer (2010 premium was RM1,300).

Although usage of our risk management tools and practice area checklists are still not at a desirable rate, our Risk Management Programme has gained the confidence of our insurers.   Our risk management efforts and initiatives to increase awareness of instilling a sound work culture have resulted in our insurers agreeing to this reduced premium!  

Whilst Bar Council has been fortunate with a reduction in premium, the recent news headlines in Ireland alerts:  
'Irish lawyers fail to get cover.  Firms will fold over lack of PI cover, Law Society warns', 'Irish solicitors' indemnity fund in eleventh-hour cover crisis…'.

In January 2010, the Director General of the Irish Law Society, Ken Murphy warned, "It's likely that some firms will be unable to pay the premium and be pushed over the edge and become uneconomical… …… insurance companies have informed the Law Society they are making unsustainable losses and that's now being passed on…", in this case, to Irish solicitors.

PII premium in Ireland, particularly for sole proprietors, was increased by 200% for the 2010 PII renewal.  In addition, the minimum amount of cover required was reduced from RM10.2 million to RM6.1 million.  This alarming trend is likely to carry into the 2011 renewals for Irish solicitors.  

As compared to other law societies around the world, Bar Council has managed to maintain the rate of premiums in the last several years and now, reduced it by 7.7%.  Although this does not guarantee a reduction for every renewal, we would certainly do our utmost to negotiate the best premiums for Members.

Bar Council is pleased to inform that the terms and conditions for our 2011 Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme have been finalised and approved at Bar Council meeting on 14 August 2010.  Salient points of the 2011 terms are as follows:

If you encounter any problems/issues with the 2011 Online Proposal Form, kindly contact JLT (Sona/Zaiton) at 03-2723 3388 for assistance.         

Help Desk

The Bar Council Secretariat has a help desk to assist all Members.  An Executive Officer, Wong LiChin, is on hand to answer any queries Members have about 2011 renewals, risk management, PII and/or the Self Insurance Fund.  Contact LiChin at 03 2032 4511 or email her at lcwong@malaysianbar.org.my.

Professional Indemnity Fund (PIF) – Update

In the 2009/10 PII Committee Report, we informed Members that the amended PIF Draft Rules (2nd Draft) was submitted to the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) in August 2009 for their review and approval.  

Whilst discussions on the PIF's management, administration and corporate governance have been initiated, the PIF can only be implemented once the PIF Rules are approved and gazetted.  

The AGC wrote to Bar Council in July 2010 to inform that this review is still ongoing.  We will diligently follow up with the AGC to expedite approval.  Members will be kept informed of any progress.

To end, we are working towards further improving the Scheme but to do that, we need your all-round support to embrace our risk management efforts, which is extremely useful to your practice in making it more profitable and less susceptible to claims!