Commercial

Businesses are now exposed to a minefield of legal changes covering a wide range of issues. Unless a company has in house legal expertise it can be very expensive to ensure compliance on all issues and can place considerable strain on the resources of smaller businesses.

Keeping up with developments is now a full time job, and for those businesses who have the finances for their own in house Human Resource and Legal Departments, these never ending legislative changes can be managed and implemented. However, as there are 4 million businesses operating in the UK, with 99.9% of these being Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SME's), it is unlikely that the majority of SME's will have such a luxury, or the available funds to cover legal disputes as they arise.
Source: Department of Trade and Industry 2007.

Legal fees, compensation awards and tax enquiry fees can all undermine the financial stability of a business. In this litigious climate, a Commercial Legal Expenses policy is essential to protect a business against the potential legal costs they may face the typical areas of cover would be employment disputes, health and safety, taxation, prosecution defence, property disputes and contracts to name but a few.

Over the last 30 years legal expenses insurance has developed into many forms, the main difference being how they are sold. Legal protection insurance policies are mainly sold Before the Event (BTE) through brokers, insurance companies and affinity groups and After the Event (ATE) through solicitors.

The policy types above are explained below:

Before the Event

This is usually sold as an add-on to a household or motor insurance policy. It covers the consequences of an event which has not yet occurred.

After the Event

This type of insurance is taken out after the event has occurred to insure you against the risk of losing your case. It is also referred to as ATE Insurance, Conditional Fees Insurance, CFA insurance, Post-Event Insurance, AEI or Legal protection insurance. For details of our ATE policy please click here (link to customer ATE product page).

Legal expenses is usually sold through a scheme but can be sold as a stand alone product although Allianz Legal Protection only provide cover on a scheme basis. A scheme is an arrangement with an intermediary to distribute legal protection products on the insurer’s behalf to the end customer. If you want to take out legal expenses insurance please contact your insurance advisor.

Our products are only available via appointed intermediaries.
To find an intermediary, simply contact us.

Commercial Standard and Commercial Plus

Our Commercial Legal Protection Insurance Policies