The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) have announced that they will be keeping individual practising certificate fee levels for 2019/20 at the same level whilst compensation fund contributions are set to fall.
The Board of the SRA have indicated that the proposed individual practising certificate fee is expected to be £278 and this has now been submitted to the Legal Services Board (LSB) for approval. A final decision on an individual fee is expected in mid-August. Firm practising fees are calculated on a case-by-case basis.
Compensation Fund contributions for the next practising year are set to fall. The individual contribution for 2019/20 will be £60 (reduced from £90), while the firm contribution will be £1,150 (down £530 from £1,680). These figures have also been submitted to the LSB for approval.
The SRA state that one of the main reasons for the fall is a decline in the number and complexity of interventions – where they close down a firm to protect client interests. However, the overall contribution remains higher than recent years because of the continuing risk of a greater number of high-value claims, for example because of solicitors’ involvement in dubious investments schemes. Further information is available in the SRA’s Compensation Fund news release.
Those wishing to see what their specific indicative practising certificate fees are can use the fees calculator, accessed via this year’s fees policy page
Fees and Compensation Fund contributions are collected in October as part of the annual renewals process.