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Commercial Legal Expenses Insurance

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All businesses face unpredictable legal problems. From employment issues to tax disputes, the cost of resolving these can run into huge sums of money. Commercial legal expenses insurance can offer a cost-effective solution to help businesses overcome their legal challenges.

Legal expenses insurance is designed to provide you with expert legal advice when a legal issue arises. From minor to more serious legal problems, find out more on the benefits of this insurance policy below.

Legal Advice Helpline

Sometimes you just need a bit of guidance or confirmation of how to proceed with certain matters. Some legal expenses policies offer a confidential helpline for businesses to access 24/7, 365 days a year. This means you can receive dedicated support and advice all year round.

Crisis Communication

Negative publicity can be crippling to a business. A swift and effective response is what’s needed to repair and restore a company’s reputation. A legal expenses policy could provide you with access to PR support to manage adverse media publicity.

Employee Support

There are occasions where employees may not feel comfortable talking to people within the organisation about issues they may be facing. This is why an over-the-phone counselling service is a valued employee benefit. This service is often given as part of a commercial legal expenses insurance plan.

Tax Advice

HMRC regularly conducts audits on businesses. If your organisation is hiring a tax consultant to help with this, the fee can often be costly. Legal expenses insurance can help by providing cover to pay for a tax consultant as well as a tax helpline for further assistance. This is particularly useful in the event of an HMRC investigation.

Legal Document Library

Making sure documents are up to date and relevant is vital but can be time-consuming. With a legal expenses policy, you have access to a resource library where you can personalise the legal documents you need.

Contract Disputes

If you are buying, selling, hiring, or providing goods or services there will be a contract between you and another party. There could be an instance for where you or the other party could challenge the contract. In a contractual dispute, having a legal expenses policy can help provide a lawyer to negotiate your rights.

Debt Recovery

Cashflow issues can be a significantly disruptive issue for any business. A commercial legal expenses insurance plan can offer a debt recovery solution. This will help to recover money and interest due from the sale or provision of goods or services.

Tenant Disputes

Most tenancies run smoothly, but if there is a problem there can be lengthy and costly legal disputes. This is where a legal expenses insurance cover steps in. Should any issues relating to your property or tenants arise, as a landlord, it will provide you with advice and cover for legal costs.

 

1. Criminal Prosecution

A company was moving to new premises and as part of the move, they wanted to enlarge the car parking on site. This expansion involved cutting down a large number of trees. The company enlisted the services of a tree surgeon who said that they would deal with all relevant permissions. The business was later charged with cutting a protected tree without the appropriate authority from the Council or Forestry Commission. This type of offence can lead to an unlimited fine. On the advice of their lawyer, the insured pleaded guilty. In mitigation, they explained that they had used and relied on the services of a professional tree surgeon. The Court accepted their plea and limited their fine to £1,000. The company incurred £6,500 of legal costs in preparing for and being represented in Court which was covered by their legal expenses policy.

2. Property Disputes

A company leased the top floor of a large office building. The building suffered from a leak in the roof which prevented the company from using their office space. Their business equipment was also damaged in the incident. When asked to fix the roof, the landlord claimed that it was the responsibility of the business to pay for repairs. The business took the landlord to court and the landlord was ordered to pay for roof repairs along with additional damages to compensate for losses to the company. The legal costs to the company were £32,000. Thanks to their commercial legal expenses insurance plan, the costs were taken care of.

 

3. Data Protection

A laptop containing over 8,000 patient records was stolen from the home of a medical centre employee. The Information Commissioner considered imposing a direct civil monetary penalty on the company. Through their lawyer, the company were able to show that they had robust procedures for controlling the data which included the encryption of the laptop in question. This lead to no penalty being imposed on the company and their legal expenses insurance picked up the £7,000 of legal fees.

 

At Alan & Thomas insurance, we have helped thousands of clients find the right legal expenses policy. With an A-Rated insurer backing, our prime goal is to find you the best cover at the best rate. As risk management brokers, we also provide help and advice with business continuity, health and safety and more, which are offered free of charge with our commercial insurance plans. To discuss your options for commercial legal expenses insurance, get in touch. We can also assess your current legal expenses policy and whether there are any gaps missing.

Contact us today by filling out our online contact form or calling 01202 754900. You can also email info@alan-thomas.co.uk with your quote enquiry.