RIBA past president Marco Goldschmied has said his call to arms for architects to set up a new mutual provider to counter the rocketing cost of professional indemnity insurance has revealed “very strong demand” across the profession.

Goldschmied, who was president of the institute from 1999 to 2001, last month urged small and medium-sized practices to flag their interest in setting up a not-for-profit insurance provider in the face of “extortionate” premium increases of up to 700%, blamed on fallout from the Grenfell tragedy.

He said the response to his call on LinkedIn had been “fantastic” but warned that the architectural community had to take control of its destiny before it was “permanently debilitated” by the insurance industry at a time when the profession’s existing mutual, Wren Insurance Association, only offered PI insurance to the largest practices.

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