Read 28 October 2026
Successor practice rules
When a law firm closes without a successor practice, its insurer must give six years of run-off cover. If it cannot renew, it gets a 30-day extended policy period then a 60-day cessation period, 90 days in all. The SRA states each of these on its own guidance. Ask Joseph Ellul a question about your firm and he answers himself.
- 6 years
- of run-off cover the insurer must provide when a firm closes without a successor SRA guidance: closing down your practice
- 30 + 60 days
- extended policy period, then cessation period, when a firm cannot renew SRA guidance: closing down your practice
- 7 days
- for the insurer to tell the SRA its successor practice decision Law Society: run-off cover
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This is a free information site run by Joseph Ellul. When you send a question, he reads it and replies to you himself; it is not passed to any broker, insurer or law firm, and you pay nothing to ask. The site carries no advertising, no sponsored placement and no affiliate links. Every rule and figure is read from the named regulator's or firm's own public page on the date shown. Nothing here is legal, regulatory or insurance advice; check the source before you rely on a row.
SRA successor practice rules
Last updated
Every rule below is a sentence read from the SRA's or the Law Society's own page on the date shown. The figure is the rule's own number; nothing here is our estimate or advice.
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 3 of the 9 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 6 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in day (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 5 figures, never sentences; 53 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per rule, each read from the SRA's own text with the clause it sits in: the definition of a successor practice (the MTC tests: who takes on the practice, its principals, its clients and its name), the six-year run-off obligation, the seller's election before cessation between run-off and succession, the premium-before-cessation and insurer-notifies-SRA conditions, and what happens by default; dated so a change in the MTC shows as a change on the page
| Rule | What it says | Read | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run-off cover when a firm closes without a successor | six years | 2026-10-28 | SRA guidance: closing down your practice |
| Extended indemnity in all, when a firm cannot renew | 90 days | 2026-10-28 | SRA guidance: closing down your practice |
| Extended policy period, practising as normal | 30 days | 2026-10-28 | SRA guidance: closing down your practice |
| Cessation period, existing matters only | 60 days | 2026-10-28 | SRA guidance: closing down your practice |
| Keeping records after closure | six years | 2026-10-28 | SRA guidance: closing down your practice |
| SRA closure form, sent no earlier than | seven days | 2026-10-28 | SRA firm closure notification form |
| Share of claims made more than three years after the event | 40% | 2026-10-28 | Law Society: run-off cover |
| Insurer tells the SRA its successor decision | seven days | 2026-10-28 | Law Society: run-off cover |
| Run-off premium against what PII would have cost over six years | 50% | 2026-10-28 | Law Society: run-off cover |
- An insurer must provide run-off cover for six years from the expiry of the policy when a firm closes without a successor practice. (SRA guidance: closing down your practice)
- A firm that cannot renew gets a 30-day extended policy period, then a 60-day cessation period in which it takes no new instructions. (SRA guidance: closing down your practice)
- The Law Society says about 40% of claims are made more than three years after the event. (Law Society: run-off cover)
- The insurer must tell the SRA within seven days about its decision on a successor practice. (Law Society: run-off cover)
Cite this page
“SRA successor practice rules”, Successor Practice, https://successorpractice.co.uk/ (updated 2026-10-28). Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 3 of the 9 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 6 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in day (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 5 figures, never sentences; 53 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per rule, each read from the SRA's own text with the clause it sits in: the definition of a successor practice (the MTC tests: who takes on the practice, its principals, its clients and its name), the six-year run-off obligation, the seller's election before cessation between run-off and succession, the premium-before-cessation and insurer-notifies-SRA conditions, and what happens by default; dated so a change in the MTC shows as a change on the page
Go deeper
Each one cites where its numbers come from.
- Successor practice and run-off: every rule, with its source
Every successor practice and run-off rule read from the SRA's and the Law Society's own pages on 28 October 2026, each with its figure and source.
- What run-off cover and a law firm valuation cost, as published
The run-off premium multiple Lockton publishes and the law firm valuation fees Armstrong Watson and Ten Percent Group print, read 28 October 2026.
- Successor practice under the SRA rules: what happens on closure
What the SRA rules mean by a successor practice in practice: the insurer's choice, the seven-day notice, and six years of run-off if there is no successor.
Frequently asked
What is a successor practice under the SRA rules?
It is the practice that takes on a closing firm's liabilities as a prior practice, so that practice's insurer covers claims about the old firm and no six-year run-off is bought. The SRA's guidance on closing down a practice sets out both routes.(SRA guidance: closing down your practice)
How long is run-off cover for solicitors?
Six years. The insurer on cover when a firm closes without a successor practice must provide run-off cover for six years from the expiry of the policy.(SRA guidance: closing down your practice)
What happens if a law firm cannot renew its PII?
It enters a 30-day extended policy period, practising as normal, then a 60-day cessation period, dealing only with existing matters and taking no new instructions.(SRA guidance: closing down your practice)
What does run-off cover cost?
Lockton says most insurers charge between 225% and 400% of the preceding year's primary layer premium. The Law Society says it is approximately 50% of what six years of PII would have cost.(Lockton: what is run-off cover)
Who answers a question sent from this page?
Joseph Ellul reads it and replies himself. It is not passed to a broker, an insurer or a law firm, and nothing here is legal, regulatory or insurance advice.(SRA successor practice rules: every row, with its source)
Sources
This site's own datasets, every figure quoted from its source and dated:
- The SRA Successor Practice Rules carries 5 published figures read from 3 sources' own pages, from 7 to 90 day, read 28 October 2026.
- The median published figure in the Successor Practice Adviser Index is 2,312.50 GBP across 2 sources' own pages in GBP (range 650 to 3,975 GBP; 3 sources publish a figure), read 28 October 2026.