At least three top-20 firms are understood to have been quoted higher professional indemnity premiums under the post-SIF regime, which goes against the anticipated cost savings predicted to accompany a free market.

Herbert Smith looks likely to be one of the firms hit by a higher rate. Partnership secretary Alistair Watson confirmed that the firm has been quoted a rate that is the same as it would have been under SIF or slightly higher.

He said the rates were higher than anticipated, but added that it was too early to tell what the final figure would be.

Watson said the firm had been given a very low quote by SIF last year and added that the higher rates might also be partly due to two outstanding claims.

"Our claims record is as good as everyone else's but we report everything as a matter of caution and note the worst financial damage in each case," he said.

The news is in contrast to general insurance market reports that premiums for the top-100 firms are down by up to 50%. Clifford Chance Rogers & Wells partner Perry Simson told Legal Week that his firm had seen a reduction in its premium. "The rate for the global first £1m of cover will be cheaper than the equivalent rate last year," he said.

Slaughter and May is also understood to have been quoted less than the figure it is paying this year. But other firms say the premium reduction might not be as great as they had initially thought.
Nigel Morland, finance director at Ashurst Morris Crisp, said: "It is early days yet. It appears we will make some savings, but perhaps not as much as people thought when SIF was dropped."
Premium quotes have been winging their way to law firms from the qualifying insurers under the new regime during the last couple of weeks.

Trevor Moss, director at insurer Alexander Forbes, said: "On average among the top-50 firms there has been a reduction of between 25% and 50%."