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Legal expenses and the haulier
Page 97
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INSURANCE companies today produce new types of policies by the handful. It is difficult, even for the-inMated, to keep track of them all. But one new policy is worthy of mention. This is the haulier's legal protection policy, brought out under the keen surveillance of the Road Haulage Association, and underwritten by DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company. John C. Vann reports.
Legai expenses insurance in itself is not new, being introduced into this country about five years ago. However, on the Continent it has been in operation for over 50 years. The West German DAS company, in fact, deals with more than a million claims a year.
What is legal expenses insurance? In simple terms, a legal expenses policy will provide the legal costs involved in the pursuit of or defence of your legal rights, in or out of court. The legal expenses covered include fees and expenses of solicitors, barristers, expert witnesses, court costs and your opponent's costs if awarded against you in a civil case.
Some examples might clarify. Suppose you insure your lorry for third party cover only and you are claiming the cost of your repairs at £350 from the other driver who, in your opinion, was to blame for the accident. But he maintains that he was not at fault and rejects your claim. So what do you do? With the very high costs of legal advice today, is it worthwhile taking a dispute of this nature to court? Yet with a legal expenses insurance policy under your belt, and assuming it is 'agreed you have a reasonable case, you can go ahead with -legal action. The indemnity limit 'under this policy is £10,000 per ;incident and unlimited in the 'year, so there is plenty of scope.
The contract divides into six sections and it might be a useful exercise briefly to touch on each one. First, there is help in the form of legal expenses in circumstances similar to those given in the example just outlined. In other words, you are assisted in the attempt to recover uninsured losses relating to one of your vehicles involved in a road accident where the sum involved is in excess of £250 and where there are reasonable prospects of success. The premium here is £8 per vehicle.
Under the next section, legal expenses are provided to pursue a claim for death of or injury to an insured person involved in an accident while using a company vehicle. Also included is loss of or damage to personal property of an insured person while in these circumstances. Here, the premium is £2.50 per vehicle.
Section 3 relates to contract cover in the sense that the cover provides for pursuit or defence of claims arising out of any dis-; pute with a customer or supplier. for a contract for the purchase or hire or sale or supply of goods or of services where the amount in dispute is at least £75. This section also may be used to defend yourself against any such claims from customers. The charge is 50p for every El ,000 of turnover.
Contract of employment cover comes under Section 4. Here, legal expenses are provided to defend the insured firm in any dispute with an employee or ex-employee which arises out of or relates to his contract of employment with the policyholder or any dispute with an employee, ex-employee, or prospective employee under the Race Relations Act or the Sex Discrimination Act. Normally the legal costs insured by art employer who has defended a case varies from about £300 to £1,000, although sometimes the legal costs are higher than this. In industrial tribunals these costs are rarely recoverable even if you win. The last two sections refer to prosecution defence cover. Section 5, in fact, relates to criminal prosecution defence cover for firms. The cover provides for the defence of the policyholder against any criminal prosecution arising out of his normal business activities, including prosecutions under the Road Traffic Acts, Health and Safety at Work Act and the Companies Acts; .or appeals against the imposition of Improvement or Phibition Notices on the policyholder under the Health and Safety at 'Work Act or representation at a public inquiry in respect of the revocation, curtailment of suspension of the policyholder's operator's licence. The premium under Section 5 is 40p per £1,000 wage roll.
Section 6 relates to prosecution defence cover as that given under Section 5, but it is provided for the individual employees of the company and not for the company or firm itself. If your driver is prosecuted whether or not he has been involved in a road accident, DAS will provide his ,defence costs. Once again, the premium here is 40p per £1 ,000 wage roll.
Various discounts are worth noting. There is an overall discount of 10 per cent for RHA members. An additional 10 per cent discount is given where three or more sections are taken together.
So if you are interested in further details, get in touch with DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Co Ltd, Phoenix House, Redcliff Hill, Bristol BS1 6SG (tel: 0272) 29032 1 . Or you could contact the RHA.