Business Legal Protect - commercial legal expenses insurance
There to protect you and your business from commercial disputes, legal claims, IR35 investigations, HMRC enquiries, criminal prosecutions, negative PR and identity theft. It also offers free and confidential tax, legal and counselling assistance whenever you need it.
Business Legal Protect benefits
We have created Business Legal Protect (included as standard with Suited professional indemnity insurance) to give you and your business a solid legal shield. Professional indemnity protects you against claims of professional errors while Business Legal Protect will deal with other legal and tax issues small business owners often face.
Legal costs & professional fees
The core element provides up to £100,000 cover for:
- IR35 & HMRC investigations
- Legal matters concerning your business
- Negative PR (£25,000 cover)
- Criminal prosecution
- Compliance & regulation issues
- Unpaid invoices (over £200)
Additional benefits
And there is more:
- Free tax advice
- Free commercial legal advice
- Counselling for you and your staff
- Access to a legal template library
- Identity theft assistance
Our guide to business legal protect insurance
What does commercial legal expenses insurance cover?
The core element is to provide legal assistance and defence at no cost to you when you're facing a claim against you.
A good insurance provider will guide you through every step from the outset and when they consider it prudent, they'll assign a legal team to take over. Their job is to represent your best interest.
However, it could also be you who wishes to bring a claim against someone else. If you have solid grounds and your chance of success is high, you may be able to get legal representation through your legal expenses cover.
Why would my insurers want to take the risk, you may ask? It's good business for them. If you're bringing them a case that is likely to win, they stand a good chance of recovering their costs from the other party. This is why the key phrase here is "reasonable prospects of success".
If you are facing a claim against you or want to pursue a claim against a third party, your chances of success must be greater than 50%. This is usually determined by the insurer's legal team. Once you've submitted all the details, they'll consider the claim and let you know whether they agree to represent you.
Do I need legal expenses insurance?
Luckily the UK is not a particularly litigious country and most disputes are settled out of court. However, these settlements still require some input from an expert, be it a solicitor or an accountant. You need to ask yourself whether you have the spare cash to cover the costs.
Suited Business Legal Protect provides a wide range of benefits from unpaid invoices recovery, contract disputes to helping our customers fend off any unjust investigations by HMRC. The IR35 is a good example of a tool the HMRC uses to harass bonafide contractors and freelancers. The onus of proof during these enquiries is on you and that costs money, time and a great deal of anxiety without the right support.
As a small business owner, contractor or freelancer it's your responsibility to ensure that you're complying with any legal or tax rules. Take advantage of the expert helplines once you've signed up with Suited and get free advice. Put yourself in a strong position, contractually and otherwise, so that your chances if something goes wrong, are above that 50% threshold.
Is £100,000 cover enough?
Based on the fact that most disputes can be ironed out through mediation, £100,000 should be plenty. In the rare event of having to defend your business in the court of law, the amount should cover a substantial part of your legal costs and, of course, how much you'll need to spend will probably depend a lot on how far you're prepared to go.
Suited Business Legal Protect does cover the fees associated with mediation and will help you find the right professionals who'll guide and represent you throughout the whole process provided your case meets the 50% rule. Remember that compensation or additional tax if you are found liable is not covered by Business Legal Protect.
What is the cost of Business Legal Protect?
Suited includes Business Legal Protect as standard with its professional indemnity cover so there is no extra cost you you.
Having cover that will provide expert advice, cover your legal costs, accountant fees and loss of earnings while attending court in your defence can be invaluable. As a single business owner you probably have work to do and the saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ very much applies here.
Common Questions
How does Suited Business Legal Protect help with unpaid invoices?
Any invoice over £200 that remains unpaid by your client, can be handed over and it will be formally chased on your behalf.
How does the counselling work?
The counselling is provided by telephone and it is available for anyone in the business.
How can Suited Business Legal Protect help during IR35 investigation?
A qualified accountant and legal representative will be appointed to your case to deal with the investigation on your behalf. Suited Business Legal Protect also covers the cost of appeals.
How can Suited Business Legal Protect help with negative PR?
You will have access to PR experts (cover up to £25,000) who will help you manage the situation to repair the damage.
Will Suited Business Legal Protect pay my legal costs if I make a claim against someone else?
An assessment is undertaken first to asses the chances of success. If it deemed to be more than 50%, you will have the support to go ahead.
Covers we offer
Suited small business owner and freelancer insurance starts with professional indemnity. It’s our core cover. With that you can also get public liability and a couple of other helpful insurance add-ons for a solid protection of your business.
Recent articles
What does ‘hibernate’ mean in professional indemnity insurance?
Imagine you’ve just delivered the last piece of work for your client and plan to take some time off, perhaps for good. Cancelling your professional indemnity cover is an option but not a very good one. The work you did in the past may still catch up with you in the future and since professional indemnity insurance (PI) works on a ‘claims made basis’, you won’t be able to access its benefits unless you have an active PI cover in place.
What is a retroactive date in professional indemnity insurance?
A retroactive date is a line in the sand which determines a specific point in the past from which your insurers have agreed to insure your business. You are effectively allowed by some insurers to backdate your professional indemnity (PI) cover so that your business is protected against possible claims as a result of your past work.
Is professional indemnity insurance the same as public liability insurance?
In short, no. It isn’t. Professional indemnity and public liability insurance are both legal covers, meaning you’re protecting yourself and your business against legal threats from clients and third parties. However, there are subtle differences and whether you need one, the other or both does depend on your business activities.
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