The Law Society of Tasmania PII Scheme Overview as at December 2025

The Law Society of Tasmania administers a professional indemnity insurance (PII) scheme on behalf of law practices in Tasmania. It negotiates with potential insurers each year and enters into an insurance arrangement on behalf of the profession. The current insurer is CGU.

Claim Numbers
In the past 6 months there has been a slight increase in activity, with 30 claims and 35 notifications. This is partly attributable to an insurer change and notifications made prior to renewal.

Areas of Practice and Key Issues

• Litigation represented 28% of claims in the reporting period with matters including missed limitation periods (including commencement of proceedings in building and personal injury matters), settlement regret, and failure to properly advise clients.
• Commercial (23%) – Drafting errors (notably in trust deeds, disclosure documents and stamp duty matters), failure to advise on international fund transfers leading to exchange rate losses, and failure to draft in accordance with client instructions.
• Conveyancing (22%) – Conflicts, lost title documentation, and failures to advise purchasers, particularly regarding planning issues, boundary disputes and access to land.
• Probate (14%) – Drafting errors, capacity disputes, failures to correctly transfer property interests, and one cyber-related matter arising during estate administration.
• Family Law (13%) – Failure to advise, including failure to warn clients about exposure to adverse costs orders, and applications for personal costs orders against practitioners arising from alleged delays.

Cyber Claims
Two cyber matters were addressed during the period; one claim and one notification:

1. Estate administration claim – Funds were released following a sophisticated email impersonation of an executor using similar email language, resulting in funds being released that were not detected for several weeks.
2. Conveyancing notification – Client transferred funds following a fraudulent email request. No claim was made, as the solicitor had provided clear written warnings regarding cyber fraud and transfer of funds to alternate bank accounts.

Emerging Themes

• Retiring practitioners – Delay remains a key issue, with several significant claims arising from matters not progressed prior to retirement, resulting in missed time limits or uncommunicated settlement offers.
• Historical abuse matters – Increased notifications from insured firms after newly instructed plaintiff firms request legacy client files to reassess historical settlements.
• Litigation practices – Ongoing failures to provide clear written advice, particularly regarding settlement offers, litigation risks and potential adverse costs orders.

The Law Society of Tasmania’s PII Scheme is administered on behalf of the Society by Fleur Dewhurst, Lawyer and Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme Advisor.

Fleur Dewhurst is joining the 2026 Risk and Practice Management Conference program on Monday 2 March in Hobart and Tuesday 3 March in Devonport to deliver a risk management round-up from this PII Scheme. This conference can be booked here.

February 2026