Introduction to Legal Expenses Insurance  - This form of insurance, legal expenses insurance has become very popular in recent years. If you run a business, this type of cover can often be purchased quite cheaply, sometimes it is rated on the turn over of your business, the more you turnover, the more your Business Legal Protection Insurance Policy will cost you.  Although "General Policies" are on sales, it may be possible to obtain a cover which has been specially designed for your trade. You may find that you already have cover included as part of a package of other covers such as Shop Insurance or sometimes even Liability Insurance.  If you are an Individual, your insurance advisor should be able to sell your Motorist Legal protection Insurance cover to help you recover uninsured losses under a motor insurance contract. If you are a Homeowner, your insurance advisor should be able to sell you a policy to help you with consumer disputes etc.  If you are worried about Legal Expenses, you should always check the insurers Key Facts document before you buy cover to make sure that you have the cover you require.  Amongst the sections covered under a Business Legal Protection Insurance policy you may find the following included;

24 hour Legal Advice Line - This is a fairly common feature of this type of contract, you will have 24 hour access to experts that can help you with Legal Issues.

Employer's Protection - This section of your business legal policy will cover the cost of defending disputes with employees at Employment Tribunals including the cost of any basic or compensatory awards made against you. The insurers will usually want to provide their own lawyer to assist in these cases and in the event of a claim for unfair dismissal, they will expect you to have followed certain procedures.

Tax investigation Cover - This section of a business Legal Expenses policy, will cover you for accountancy and legal costs involved in representing your business in any in-depth investigation by Inland Revenue, Dept of Social Security or HM Customs and Excise.
 

Defence against Prosecution - This sections provides cover for the cost of defending civil actions against you including any that arise from the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995. You may have worries about other acts that effect your particular trade or industry, if this is the case, you should discuss the matter your with insurance advisor.

Data Protection Act - This Act is fairly complex and this section provides cover for the cost of defending civil actions against you brought under the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998 and for any awards made against you.

Jury Service -  This section may be provided as an optional extra or simply included under the main wording, if you or a senior employees is called for jury service the insurers will pay compensation of usually up to £100.00 per day with a maximum specified amount.

Statutory Licence Protection - If you run a Restaurant, Public House or Wine Bar etc, this section of the Legal Expenses policy will pay costs and expenses incurred if a court or relevant authority suspends, revokes or alters the terms or refuses to renew your licence. With the recent changes to the licensing laws, this cover would seem to be quite pertinent.

Contract Disputes Cover - This section of the policy will provide cover for disputes between you and a customer over a contract for goods or services. There is usually an excess for this type of policy ( cover will not commence until your policy has been in force for a certain amount of time.).