Inperio has announced a partnership with digital ID and Anti Money Laundering (AML) platform Thirdfort, to help reduce the cost of Solicitors’ Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII). The managing general agent (MGA) will offer a reduction in premium or excess for firms that sign up with Thirdfort and use its digital ID platform. The product will support law firm risk management around client onboarding, utilising cutting edge technology to reduce the risk of fraud and ensure that solicitors comply with their ever-increasing regulatory obligations.

The partnership is primarily aimed at conveyancers, for whom the market for PII has become increasingly tough in recent years. Risks such as identity fraud and cybercrime have increased, whilst lawyers’ regulatory obligations have become more stringent. At the same time, case law, including a 2018 Court of Appeal judgment ( Dreamvar (UK) Ltd v Mishcon de Reya), has underlined the fact that solicitors will be held liable if identity fraud is committed during a conveyancing transaction.

In light of such developments, it has become difficult for many firms to secure competitive terms around PII. In August, the Law Society warned firms that they faced an average increase of 30% in their premiums during the Autumn renewal season – with some facing even higher hikes – citing Covid-19, Brexit and a hardening insurance market. Conveyancing and complex private client matters have also been highlighted as troublesome areas that are driving PII claims. A number of insurers have also withdrawn from the marketplace in recent years.

Inperio is a full service, independent managing agent (MGA) offering a diverse underwriting footprint and A-rated capacity.

FCA regulated Thirdfort is a web and mobile platform that combines document scanning, facial recognition technology and Open Banking, to streamline and secure identity and source of funds checks carried out during legal transactions. Thirdfort lets conveyancers and lawyers onboard their clients quickly, securely and entirely remotely.

Simon Lovat, Inperio CEO: “Ultimately, we want to help decrease the risk of identity fraud and we’re offering clients a quick, easy and secure way of doing that, whilst also reducing their insurance spend. We have been really impressed with the Thirdfort team and their technology. Moreover, we believe there’s scope to further develop this product, utilising Thirdfort’s own data within our underwriting process. Our products are driven by risk analysis, risk management and expert underwriting and data is, of course, central to this. We’re excited about the partnership.”

 Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and Managing Director at Thirdfort: “We have been working hard over the past 18 months to demonstrate to the insurance industry that our technology helps reduce professional indemnity claims by mitigating the risk of fraudulent transactions, and we are delighted to be working with Inperio.”

Dylan Hughes, Managing Director of Brunel Professions, a specialist professional indemnity broker: “Law firms who undertake conveyancing have found it more and more challenging to obtain competitive professional indemnity premiums. The launch of this initiative by Thirdfort and Inperio is welcome news and could be a game-changer in terms of professional indemnity options for conveyancing firms.”

To find out more about how Thirdfort can help keep PI premiums as low as possible, get in touch.