General Questions About Legal Expense Insurance:

What is Legal Expense Insurance? Legal Expense Insurance (LEI) provides affordable coverage for the legal fees and expenses incurred by a lawyer on specified matters. These matters are defined as fortuitous events, or issues that are not anticipated. These would include employment disputes, litigation, disciplinary actions, Human Rights complaints and criminal charges. Cover is not discretionary i.e. provided the claim is covered within the governing terms and conditions of the policy, the policy responds.

What are Prepaid Plans? 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).

What is Prepaid Legal Insurance? There is no such thing in Canada. There are only Prepaid Plans, which are not insurance and therefore not regulated, and Legal Expense Insurance. In Canada only licensed (and therefore fully regulated) insurance companies can offer Legal Expense Insurance (For more information, see “What is Legal Expense Insurance?”)

Why do I need legal protection? We live in a litigious society. Having access to a lawyer when you need it provides you with peace of mind, while at the same time protecting your financial bottom line. More importantly, having legal representation when a conflict arises has proven to help mitigate problems and assist all parties to reach a suitable compromise without costly settlements or long, drawn-out court cases. With its low cost premium, Legal Expense Insurance means that you are not facing catastrophic legal costs at the same time as you are dealing with a conflict. Legal costs for actions brought against you can easily climb to $ 100,000 or more.

What does Legal Expense Insurance cover? Legal Expense Insurance (LEI) provides affordable coverage for the legal fees and expenses incurred by a lawyer for professional matters covered by the policy.

What if I’m not sure if I need a lawyer? The best person to answer that question is a lawyer! Many Legal Expense Insurance policies include access to a toll-free Telephone Legal Advisory (TLA) service. In most cases, this gives you unlimited access to a lawyer during regular business hours.

Is TLA confidential? Completely. Solicitor/client privilege is maintained.

Are all legal fees and disbursements paid? Most policies provide a maximum indemnity per hour, plus all reasonable disbursements. Any legal fees in excess of this hourly rate remain the responsibility of the policyholders.

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