Commercial Legal Expense Insurance:

How does Commercial Legal Expense Insurance help protect my business? Commercial Legal Expense Insurance (CLEI) is specifically designed for small to medium sized businesses that do not typically have legal services on staff. Given the high cost of retaining a lawyer, your company may be put in a position where you have to choose between jeopardizing your financial bottom line by incurring heavy legal expenses, or risking financial difficulty, even bankruptcy and closure, by failing to have proper legal representation.

Doesn't my commercial liability insurance protect me against being sued? Prepaid plans provide coverage of legal fees for a set list of predictable needs requiring legal assistance. These include preparing a will and negotiating a mortgage. The funding is a pool of money and cover is discretionary, depending on the stability of the pool. There is no form of regulation for prepaid plans. By law, only insurance can provide coverage for fortuitous events (i.e. unpredictable or accidental).

Can I really afford more insurance? The question you should be asking yourself is, "Can I really afford not to?" CLEI provides you with peace of mind and a premium that is easily affordable, even for the smallest business. That's because LEI premiums are tailored to your company's gross revenues. More than just an insurance policy, CLEI provides your company with a complete service and immediate access to a lawyer when you need it.

What if I’m not sure if I need a lawyer? The best person to answer that question is a lawyer! This is why CLEI's provides policyholders with a toll-free Telephone Legal Advisory service. This service gives you unlimited access to a lawyer for immediate advice on any business matter, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EST.

Doesn't getting a lawyer involved just make things more complicated and more expensive to settle? If the right steps are taken at the very start, problems can often be resolved quickly or a suitable compromise reached between the parties involved without costly settlements or long, drawn-out court cases that can take you away from the business of running your business.

What are the policy limits? Commercial Legal Expense Insurance pays up to $50,000 per claim, to an annual total expense of $250,000, for reasonable legal fees (at a rate of up to $ 275/hour). Legal proceedings must commence in Canada. There is No deductible. A 10% co-insurance applies to all legal fees in excess of $ 10,000. There is no payment for awards, damages, fines or penalties.

Where do I go for more information? For more information about policy coverage and availability, click here.