The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is seeking views on a proposal to amend its Minimum Terms of Cover for Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) to clarify the expected level of cover provided by professional indemnity insurers to barristers’ clients (or other third parties) in the event of a cyber-related incident.
The proposed amendments make it clear that client losses which arise from a cyber-related incident are within scope for a claim of civil liability and apply to PII requirements for all self-employed barristers in England and Wales and all firms regulated by the BSB (known as “BSB entities”). The consultation document does not propose that the BSB should require barristers and BSB entities to insure against their own losses in relation to cyber incidents (‘first party losses’) but it does ask whether the BSB should consider doing so in the future.
The BSB is keen to stress that the proposed amendment is a clarification rather than a substantive change. The regulator has today published a short consultation paper on its proposal and is asking for views from interested parties by 22 March 2022.
BSB Director of Strategy and Policy, Ewen Macleod, said:
“The proposed change to our Minimum Terms of Cover for barristers’ Professional Indemnity Insurance is designed to provide clarity about the level of cover required in the event of a cyber incident. The amendment would make explicit what is currently implied in the current terms, should a cyber-related incident occur. Such terms provide protection for clients in the event of such an event.”
The consultation on amendments to the BSB’s Minimum Terms of Cover (MTCs) can be found on the BSB website.
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Notes to editors
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