The cost of obtaining justice can be extremely high, even for those who are completely innocent. Family Prosecution Defence provides first class lawyers, protecting innocent family members of someone who is accused of committing a crime against serious financial consequences– such as the need to re-mortgage or sell the family car to fund a proper defence.
Plugging the defence funding gap caused by a combination
of savage cuts to Legal Aid, changes to the rules on recovering
costs at crown court trial and cover limitations that generally apply to
existing Family legal protection products; the new policy extends to areas such as allegations of dishonesty,
violence, uninsured driving and alcohol or drug-related offences. All family
members including those studying for further education away from home are
covered.
Where an error of judgement has been made and an individual
has been drawn into committing a crime, just as for those who are wrongly
accused, individuals still have a legal right to a defence. They have the
opportunity to apologise to the court and those affected by their actions.
Under these circumstances, when a guilty plea is entered, the court can be
lenient when passing sentence, if the judge is convinced of the defendant's
remorse.
Family Prosecution Defence will typically be available to
boost Family Legal Protection policies for High Net Worth individuals or for
company directors and partners as an extension to commercial products, but the
new policy is also suited to affinity groups.
The new policy covers the majority of criminal acts but Class
A and Class J offences (homicide, serious sexual offences, offences against
children), corruption, money laundering, parking) or repeat offences are
excluded. Most importantly, assistance can be sought before an arrest or notice
of prosecution is received.
In addition to criminal matters cover is available to provide
representation for individuals facing a regulatory investigation or
disciplinary action by a professional body. Confidential telephone counselling
and legal advice is also provided as well as access to an online consumer legal
service website, for legal advice and documentation.
Policyholders are urged to add the 24/7 helpline number to
their mobile contact list to ensure immediate representation is available for
police interviews.
The number of lawyers prepared to take on legal aid cases has
reduced as the rate they are paid makes it unattractive to work in that area, and
the courts have realised a huge surge in the number of litigants representing
themselves. Our FPD policyholders don't have to worry about that because they
have access to the best people to help them and ARAG will be footing the bill.
David Haynes
Head of Underwriting and Marketing
Criminal matters cover is available to provide representation for individuals facing a regulatory investigation or disciplinary action by a professional body.
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