'LEGAL' WAY TO LOWER PREMIUMS
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kCED with increasing rerheads and cash-flow oblems, operators may be mpted to look to their aurance as a fairly painless ay to cut costs.
But if they reduced the surance on a fleet from imprehensive to third par, for example, the cure Rad turn out to be worse an the disease.
Suppose that shortly afterards your newest and most iluable vehicle is hit in the rear hile stationary by a drunken iver exceeding the speed as ell as other limits! Your urers will not be interested in fact that your vehicle will st, say, £1,100 to repair and II be off the road for a nimum of three weeks.
You may be fortunate ough to have the services of a illed broker who can progress matter on your behalf. But y are not numerous and vary their degrees of dedication to ch tasks, as well as in the pertise available to them. Do t despair; there is another y — it's legal expenses urance.
A Legal Expenses Insurance licy effected with a specialist urer after taking advice from ur broker, can be of consirable value and still show a • rthwhile saving in premium. a sort of half-way house tween having your cake and ing it.
What does this all mean? II, here goes: al Expenses Insurance for siness vehicles can: O Assist you in pursuing claims in respect of damage to and /or loss of your vehicles where a third party appears responsible, or partly responsible.
O Assist you should your driver or passengers in your vehicle suffer injury or be killed as a result of an accident where a third party appears to be responsible or partly responsible, to pursue such claims including loss of earnings.
[1] Assist you to pursue claims involving damage to or loss of the load where a goods carrying vehicle is involved. This would include personal possessions of driver and /or passengers.
O Assist you in pursuing claims in respect of loss of use or for the cost of hiring alternative transport. This, you well know, is an expensive business particularly when you are "over a barrel" to complete a job where a special type vehicle is essential.
• Assist you to pursue claims against manufacturers, suppliers, repairers or servicers of your vehicle for, say, defect or mechanical breakdown or faulty workmanship. You will be well aware that mechanical breakdown is not covered by a normal comprehensive motor policy.
O Assist you in the defence of your drivers against prosecution for motoring offences, whether or not arising from an accident, and appeal against disqualification or other sentence in any court, within the limits of the policy or to apply in British or foreign courts for reinstatement of a driving licence.
Assist you in settling disputes arising from contracts for the purchase, sale, hire or hire purchase of your vehicles.
This protection can apply in respect of your drivers and vehicles throughout Great Britain and Europe including Iron Curtain Countries.
In connection with Europe the scope of the cover does, in the case of one particular insurer at least, provide that very necessary document, the bail bond, for both driver and vehicle. This relates to the commercial vehicle operator who seeks the widest protection available. There are many variations available giving varying degrees of indemnity according to your needs and the premium you feel able to pay.
Let us look now at some more specific examples — a policy offering legal protection for loss recovery where a business vehicle is involved: One of your vehicles — possibly your only vehicle, or the only one of its type — is involved in an accident caused entirely by another driver. Hopefully, you do, in this instance, have a motor policy which will pay for the extensive damage to your vehicle which has to be repaired once all the formalities of the assessor's report and agreement to the cost have been dealt with.
All this takes time. You lose money. So what do you do about it?
You could, of course, take the other driver to court. But if, during the period between the accident and the proceedings begin, he has had second thoughts — denying all responsibility in the face of your "stone wall" case — you risk losing, or at least having to bear, some of the very high costs involved.
Even if the other party decides to negotiate with you, their offer to settle your loss of use claim could well be derisory, to say the least.
Do you decide to accept the offer, as the line of least resistance, or do you determine to accept the risks of the cost of a court action?
Again, in not such a clear-cut case, you suffer a hefty uninsured loss resulting from an accident where, on the face of the evidence available to you, your driver was only partially to blame; when the chips are down, the other side refuses to make any offer of payment whatever.
You know the feeling?
In cases such as I have outlined the modest expenditure required to obtain the benefits of a Legal Expenses Policy amount to good management thinking because, the Legal Protection Policy will help you if you wish to pursue a claim by contributing, up to the policy limit, towards the legal costs involved in your action.
This means that you can obtain forthwith the services of an experienced lawyer — your own if you think he is qualified to handle such a case — or, alternatively, the underwriters of the Legal Protection Policy will put you in touch with a suitably qualified practice.
This lawyer having collected together all available evidence, will argue your case either in court or as is much to be preferred, out of court, or to 'the highest court available, should this become necessary. Provided, obviously, that in the opinion of the underwriters you have reasonable prospects of succeeding in your action.
action.
A usual type of Legal Expenses Policy will pay up to £10,000 in respect of any one accident.
Such an amount will cover — among other things — solicitor's fees, counsel's fees, fees for expert witnesses, court costs and, should they be awarded against you, your opponent's costs in either British or foreign courts.
This type of policy can be arranged on • a -specified vehiclebasis where only small numbers, up to say five vehicles, are involved. With fleets of five vehicles or over a policy issued on a -Declaration' basis is clearly more advantageous to
both parties.
The policy can be arranged to include all of the following: Cars; hire cars; self-drive cars; coaches; buses; all types of commercial vehicles (including trailers, self-propelled motorised machines and motorcycles).
This protection is of considerable importance to TIR operators, more especially the ones who dispatch vehicles on the long and arduous haul to Middle Eastern countries — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait, Trucial States, Qatar, Lebanon, and conceivably Israel, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.
Now at present the Legal Expenses Indemnity available can provide assistance throughout the Continent, Eastern bloc countries and indeed every country that borders the Mediterranean.
Quite clearly, in my opinion. the scope of such policies must extend in the not too distant future to embrace most, if not ail, the countries mentioned, if they do not already qualify A look at the map will show you that several do.
When such Middle Eastern hauls are routed through Turkey as they are today and to a considerable extent have been
in the past, problems can arise en route to, and in that country, but Turkey does seem to be a particularly difficult place for the haulier. When a driver gets into legal trouble in a country, abroad following an accident involving a third party, a Legal Expenses Policy can be of the utmost importance in providing local assistance. To avoid, for example, the considerable expense of the boss himself or other company executive having to fly out from the UK to untangle the problem, which might mean obtaining release of the driver from custody and freeing the vehicle which has been impounded.
You must realise however that in forsaking, for example, full comprehensive motor insurance for third party only indemnity and backing this up with a Legal Expenses Business Vehicle Protection Policy you are accepting a not inconsiderable measure of risk yourself which should be considered realistically. There must be another party to the loss or misfortune you suffer You cannot proceed against yourself!
There are available to you a selection of Legal Expenses
Insurance Contracts from wh. any company or firm can sel what seems to them app priate to their particular ne€ following full consultation w their insurance broker.
Finally, however, I mi point out that I consider that I full implications of the Hea and Safety at Work Act 19 have not been fully absorbed a great many persons and fir in all businesses and industr throughout the country inch ing the road transport dustry. Therefore, there will in future issues of Commert Motor a discussion and outl of the many onerous dut imposed on both employees well as employers by t legislation and in this regar shall endeavour to explain. h a Legal Expenses Protect Policy can lighten your burc in this connection.
However, it must be unc stood clearly that in the even. a prosecution succeedi against an employee employer under this Act fines imposed will not be p by such insurance protecti, Everyone will realise that would nullify any benefit wh such legislation is designed effect.