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Archive for the ‘Legal Insurance’ Category

After the event legal expenses insurance is a primary coverage for your business or organisation, in circumstances where both you and your client are named in a claim and your client is found to be solely at fault. In order for a claim to make financial sense, it’s quite important that the proposed defendant must be either insured or in a financially stable position and be able to satisfy any agreement for settlement or any damages awarded in a court case. There is always a chance that the claimant will lose, if the case goes to the court, and it is under these circumstances that the claimant has to protect himself by taking out an appropriate insurance cover.

As the importance of after the event legal expenses insurance is on the increase, many business owners are taking advantage of simple and easy to use online application process so that no time is wasted in visiting and discussing the insurance details.

You can buy your insurance either on a BTE basis, by adding cover to a household, motor or general commercial policy or on ATE basis, covering the other side’s costs for an event that has already taken place. This includes a personal injury, contract dispute or insolvency litigation.

In most cases, you pay for your own legal fees, VAT and payments made by your solicitor to others (like, medical report fees). If you are successful in your case, the court will generally order that the person, who is responsible for your injury, or his or her insurer, will have to pay your legal fees. If you already have paid any fees, it can be rebated upon receipt of the fees from your opponent.

Your trade union will be able to meet your legal costs in the event of you bringing a claim. You can also get free legal advice from them, if you have paid contributions to the union. They often have a panel of approved solicitors, and they will select a solicitor on your behalf to conduct your case.

After the event legal expenses insurance also provides access to advice and cover for the legal costs of pursuing or defending certain classes of legal action and is available to both individuals and companies. There is no upfront premium payable by the client and the premium is payable at the conclusion of the case, which can be recovered.

You can also add the family members in the insurance or get it changed to a group insurance scheme for the lives of the entire group. There are many reputable and well established insurance providers in the market these days, who will assess everything in detail at no cost to you, will give you the quotes and recommend the best product for your specific needs.

After the event legal expenses insurance is meant to give you easy as well as affordable solution to meet your needs and protect your business or organisation.

There are a variety of plans from different companies for individuals or businesses. Usually you can call a legal firm selected by the plan for questions and legal advice on issues and important decisions. The plan will often cover a set number of legal calls and letters on your behalf. The provider may also do document review. Some plans will include will preparation and or trial defense service. IRS audit legal services are another common benefit. Some plans also cover services to help with identity theft issues.

I am an insurance agent in Texas. I sell Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. legal insurance. I also have a family plan that I purchased from them. The few times that I have used their services they have done a good job for me. When I have called the designated law firm a secretary has taken brief information about the issue. Then an attorney calls back in about one or two hours to consult. Two times I have requested a letter to be written to the opposing party. Both times I was impressed with the quality of their work and the letters were effective.

Should you get a per-paid legal policy? In my opinion you should consider it if you will make use of the service. How many times have you had a legal question and not consulted with an attorney because you didn’t want to pay the cost? If you will make use of a legal plan it can be very cost effective. Also consider the big cost you would have if you have to defend against a suit or criminal charges. Is that something you would like to insure for?

If you do decide on a plan, shop around for the program that is the best fit for your needs. Make sure you read the plan details and have your agent explain any items that are not clear. Texas residents can contact me at www.farmersagent.com/glamb or www.insurance-for-texas.com for more information.

With the customer’s exposure and awareness towards legal malpractice, many legal professional have to face lawsuits frequently. If we look at the statistics, every four to five law professional out of hundred have to face a lawsuit in a year. For law firms, which typically employ more than 20 lawyers, are likely to face at least one lawsuit every year. Well, the figure is pretty impressive to make one realize that one must have a Legal Malpractice Insurance for good risk coverage in this profession. Let us have a quick look at the various aspects of it.

How does this insurance protect a legal practitioner?

When a legal practitioner defends himself against a lawsuit, he not only loses money but also valuable time. The average figure may vary from 250 to 300 hours per case that can be billed. This insurance protects a lawyer for each lawsuit he has to face.

Is it like other type of insurance?

The difference between a regular insurance and this insurance is that a regular insurance gives coverage in case a certain event like hospitalization or accident occurs while this insurance covers a lawyer only for a lawsuit against him within a policy period. So, that means this insurance company may overlook the case history except for policy duration.

What is the cost of buying a policy?

The cost of a policy is directly influenced by the degree of risk involved in your profession. For example, if you are into banking or real estate, the cost may be quite higher than a regular cost of a policy. But, in my view, you should focus more on the fact that how policy covers your areas of operations.

How do I get one policy?

There are many insurance players available in the market that offers such insurance. Ideally, there are two ways to approach these companies. First, you can find a broker; second, every company has its Managing General Agent (MGA). You can search for an MGA online as well.

Running a business in current times is not an easy task. There are a lot of people who just want to take advantage of even a small negligent behavior to file a lawsuit against the company. Legal liability insurance becomes very important for any corporate to protect the company against any such lawsuits and the monetary damages arising from these lawsuits.

While doing the day to day tasks, there are chances that your customers or employees may misinterpret your actions. Even when you have no bad intentions to harm them, they may think otherwise which lead to legal action on their part. This type of insurance guarantees that financial protection to an insured party who might be required to pay damages resulting from legally negligent conduct.

This liability can arise due to various reasons. These include personal injury to a customer or employee, damage to property or even death due to negligent behavior on part of employee of the company. When a company decides to take this type of insurance, this policy protects the company owner, directors as well as all officers who are acting on company’s behalf.

There are various types of liability insurance products available. As per the need of the company, it can buy general liability insurance, bodily injury insurance, umbrella insurance, cargo legal liability insurance or garage liability insurance. The type of insurance policy will depend on the business of the company and the risks which exist in their business. These policies cover the damages as claimed by the claimant as well as legal costs which are charged by the attorney representing your case in court.

It is very important for the company to understand the need and then decide upon the type of legal liability insurance policy required for them. They should consult the insurance specialist to determine this. They should also consider revisiting the policy on a periodic basis since the business and its needs are dynamic. Therefore the insurance policy coverage may need to be changed.

Forced place insurance refers to insurance taken out by a bank or creditor on uninsured debtor’s behalf on a property placed as collateral. In case the property is damaged, funding is available to repair it. This type of insurance is most common with flood insurance; the flood insurance regulations of each agency provide notification procedures that should be followed. Forced place insurance can also be purchased for other hazards also.

Guidelines:

o Forced place hazard/flood insurance is general liability insurance for residential and commercial properties and foreclosed properties. It can also cover vacant properties, mobile homes, town houses and condominiums.

o Forced place insurance is a proven hazard insurance program. It has been designed specifically for mortgage lenders and services.

o It provides insurance cover to protect the mortgage collateral against fire and such like property hazards. However, it is most common with flood insurance.

Avoiding Lawsuits:

o The power to force place should be included in the contract note when taking out the mortgage. This will save you a lot of trouble later and prevent lawsuits against lenders placing insurance. The powers and obligations should be spelt out clearly in the loan contract note at the outset.

o If the lender has force placed insurance, do not pass on the charge to the customer that is greater than the actual cost of the insurance. It amounts to retaining a commission, which is liable for litigation.

o If a lender force places hazard insurance, the policy and disclosure letter should be made known to state.

o Insurance procured by the lender for whatever reason and that is not reflected in lender’s record, is also a strong case for later litigation.

o There are laws regulating force placed insurance in Connecticut, New Mexico, Florida, New York, Hawaii, Tennessee, Maryland, Texas and Mississippi.

Insurance cover for fire handling for vacant and foreclosed properties is very expensive and can create servicing burden. Loans made on properties located in federally designated flood zones too prove to be expensive and cause difficulty to bank’s loan servicing department. The federal flood tracking regulations for these types of loans are now imposed on the lender, thus increasing the mortgage premium considerably.

Solution Offered by FSIA, Inc.
The firm offers a Forced Placed Property/Liability/Flood program that claims to provide maximum protection with the least hassles. The program has some outstanding features that include:

o Instant binding authority for occupied and vacant properties, residential or commercial

o Competitive rates and no minimum premium or deposits

o Flexible monthly billing

o Flood zone determinations.

o Flood insurance quoting and placement programs.

o Flood insurance tracking.

Forced place insurance is essential for a bank or lender on an uninsured debtor’s behalf, to ensure that funding is available in the event of damage to the property. Ensure that the legal requirements are complied with to avoid litigation later.

Most car insurance accident claims that cannot be resolved through negotiation between both parties insurance companies or their solicitors or lawyers, will end up in court. It is therefore, vitally important that your car insurance covers you for legal expenses protection.

Legal Expenses covers all your legal bills, damages and costs awarded against you should you have a car accident. Legal expenses is often sold as an add on, and if you haven’t purchased this protection, it may cost you dear if an accident claim proceeds all the way to court, even if you win!

Car Insurance Claims

A car insurance policy is a legally binding contract between yourself and an insurance company to cover your liability, and in the United Kingdom claims for damages or liability disputes under an insurance policy contract, are resolved in the Civil or County Court as it is known. All cases are held before a District or County Circuit Judge.

Most disputes involving amounts fewer than five thousand pounds are known as small claims or fast track claims and can be dealt with quickly in a less informal setting. Claims on car insurance policies that include damages for personal injury for example, are likely to involve large amounts and perhaps legal costs of up to ten times the amount of the claim. These claims are allocated to a multi-track court system where cases are heard in full court.

If your claim, or the claim you are defending proceeds to court, both parties will be asked before the event to provide dates that they are unavailable to attend upon.

Each solicitor or lawyer will inform his party in adequate time of the date and venue of the court hearing. They will also keep their clients fully briefed as to the progress and developments in the case.

Many disputes that involve claims on car insurance policies are settled at the eleventh hour by the car insurance companies agreeing to settle, however whether a claimant or a defendant in the case you should be prepared for court. Both parties are required by law to attend the hearing and risk contempt of court charges if they fail to show.

Going To Court

The hearing will always be held in the County Court nearest to the home of the defendant. That is, the person who denies the claim against him. This can be costly if as a claimant you have to travel hundreds of miles to attend the court. UK Courts are notoriously mean with their expenses and if you drive a gas guzzler you will be lucky if you are awarded a fifth of your actual petrol costs as claimable travel expenses, if you win.

Furthermore you will not be able to claim for the inconvenience of the case, childcare costs or loss of earnings. Whether the original car accident was your fault or not, as soon as you become involved in an accident the largest damage is to your pocket.

Your Statement
You will have been asked on at least one occasion by your lawyer or solicitor, during prior negotiations, to provide a statement of fact of your version of the events that took place.

This statement will contain the facts that you will rely on when asked to speak in court. It will also contain the information that you will be cross-examined on by the other party’s lawyers. It is important when you make a statement to stick to the facts, tell the truth of what happened and use documentary evidence such as photos or videos that you took at the time of the accident, to back up your version of events.

Stick to your version of events and do not be over flowery when creating your statement. The opposition will drill down into any inconsistencies that you may introduce into your account, by being over zealous. Their aim is to show you up to be either a liar or someone who cannot be trusted, whether you are telling the truth or not. The outcome of trials, the judgement, although totally unfair, is often decided by the manner of the parties involved and how they acted throughout the case, as the hammer has to come down on one side or the other.

Small Claims

Small claims cases rarely last more than a few hours and are held in much more informal settings than the main courtroom with its bench and stands and gallery. The hearings usually take place in a small room or chambers in the Court building.

Unlike in the main courtroom neither the Judge nor Barristers if present, are obliged to wear the wigs and gowns. There is usually no court recorder present and the protocol rules for addressing the bench are much more informal than in a main courtroom, although one should employ courtesy and respect at all times if you wish to succeed in your claim.

Large Claims

Large claims or multi-track claims as they are known are set when the amounts of damages in dispute and the legal costs on both sides exceed the limits for the small claims court.

In a full hearing, only barristers are allowed to address the bench, although witnesses are often called to speak and explain a point directly to the Judge. In doing so you are required to address the Judge as ‘Your Honour’.

The Hearing

Court hearings can be daunting experiences even for the most outwardly going people. Courtrooms are very busy places. In a full court hearing there will be legal teams from both parties on separate sides of the room. They will be assisted by expert witnesses. There is always a public gallery and the Press may well be present, in particular hacks from local newspapers. There will be Court Reporters and a Stenographer recording the details of what is said and Ushers controlling the flow of witnesses. There will be a witness box where you are obliged to take the stand, give an oath on a religious document of your choice, and then be cross-examined on the contents of your statement.

The Procedure

Under Court Procedure Rules (CPR) in the United Kingdom the onus of any trial is on the claimant and any accident witnesses he may have, to take the stand first.

If you are the claimant be prepared to take the stand in the witness box on the first day of the trial. You will be cross-examined first by the other party’s barrister and then by your own to give your story. Throughout the Judge will be making their own notes.

You are not allowed to give speeches of your version of events of the car accident. You are only allowed to speak in answer to a particular question that is put to you.

In a full hearing you will be cross-examined first by the other party’s barrister who will try to destroy your evidence. Be prepared for personal attacks and dirty tricks to try to get you to say something different to what you claimed in your statement. Above all keep calm, stop and think about what you are going to say, and if necessary you are perfectly entitled to refer to your statement. Your Barrister will then cross-examine you to try to establish the points in your favour, and discredit any flack you may have suffered under the previous cross-examination.

Following your evidence the defence party will go through the same procedure. Expert witnesses may well then be called for both sides. Typically these may be motor engineers or claims assessors.

In a full hearing the events are drawn to a close by a summation from both parties barristers and a plea to the bench to find in their favour. The Judge then retires to consider the verdict or judgement as it is known in the UK civil proceedings. Quite often this may not be delivered until the next day.

Costs of a Car Insurance Accident

Immediately following the verdict it is quite common to have a costs assessment hearing, where costs are awarded. Costs in a multi track case in the UK that lasts a week, are on average for both parties in excess of one hundred thousand pounds.

Even if you win you the judge may only award a proportion of costs in your favour. There are rules governing behaviour of both parties throughout the case and offers known as ‘part 36 offers’ give some indemnity against full costs sometimes being awarded.

Accidents can cost a lot more than expected and it is important that you have adequate legal expenses protection included in your policy cover. If you don’t, that cheap car insurance policy could very soon turn into fools gold.