Another mutual insurance company isn’t the answer to architects’ PI woes Architects continue to accept all sorts of responsibilities without being paid to do so, so is it any wonder insurers are bumping up PI premiums? asks Paul Finch The Marco Goldschmied initiative in respect of mutual insurance for medium-sized and smaller practices, capitalised by the newly rich RIBA, has some obvious attractions, if you buy the idea that insurance and brokers are venal villains out to exploit innocent architects. Advertisement This looks a bit too binary. The London insurance market is the most sophisticated there is, and a market where competition is intense and ubiquitous. Why, then, are insurance premiums escalating universally, even for practices with excellent claims records?