Businesses are put off by the increased costs to recover bad debts

My team usually has a quick look at the MoJ’s quarterly civil justice statistics to gauge trends so that we can Iet you know if volumes of civil cases are on the up. An increase in the number of disputes reaching the courts could be a bellwether against which the need to promote LEI might be measured. 

 

The Bar council however has a different take on the latest statistics, pointing out that a 19% drop in the number of debt judgments against business in England and Wales during the first six months of 2016 is evidence of the negative impact of rising court fees. 

Fees charged to businesses for the recovery of debts through the court system were increased on 2015. The Bar council concludes that the increased fees have deterred small businesses from pursuing cases. 

Here’s a link to their article which appeared on litigation futures’ website : http://www.litigationfutures.com/news/bar-council-blames-court-fee-rises-fall-ccjs

Our Essential Business Legal policyholders don’t have to worry about rising court fees or the risks of being unable to recover the costs of litigation since we’ve got them covered – and when you choose ARAG for your clients there’s no excess to pay. 

Family Legal Solutions

It's fairly straight forward to identify with typical consumer disputes that are covered by the contract disputes section of our Family Legal Solutions policy. 

The sort of claims examples that we often provide involve buying goods or services that prove to be unsatisfactory.  

When this happens it's always to hoped that the supplier will put things right but when that doesn't happen we can arrange mediation between the parties or pursue a claim for damages.

 I came across some case histories that are a bit different on Nearly Legal's website. Here's a link to their account of three cases that they have posted under the heading "Landlords behaving badly". 

While you may have read past blogs from me about the help we give to landlords under our Landlords' Legal Solutions policy when tenants behave badly, here the boot is clearly on the other foot.  http://bit.ly/2b5wqXa

Not all Family Legal Expenses products protect tenants but as more and more people rely on Assured Shorthold Tenancies in the private rented sector this could be a serious gap in their LEI policy cover. Make sure your home contents customers who rent their home tick in to get our Family Legal Solutions policy.  

Crisis Communication - such a good idea that we are extending available services...

We have been providing Crisis Communication costs to our business policyholders for around four years and as the service is all about publicity we think it deserves some! 
We are introducing a new consultancy-based extension to the current service offering and have updated how we describe the service to include reference to dealing with exposure on social media which has become a hot topic.

The Crisis Communication service is provided by professional public relations executives from our preferred PR firm - an independent, international PR agency, headquartered in London. We have selected the firm for its vast experience and discretion in handling sensitive matters.

Initially we trialled Crisis Communication for some key accounts who specialise in the care industry – residential care homes and child care day nurseries.  Such businesses work in pressured environments and are vulnerable to criticism which often finds its way into the public domain, resulting in unbalanced or exaggerated reporting. 

Callers using the service were impressed with the help they received to communicate with the media positively and reported really good outcomes following involvement by our appointed PR expert. At a time of horrible stress it was good to have someone on their side to prepare statements and deal with reaction for them. We were convinced that the service would be valuable more generally and it was rolled out as part of a product relaunch to all of our business policyholders.

More about Crisis communication

 

·           Policyholders have free 24/7 access to the Crisis Communication assistance helpline which allows access to a top PR professional who can give advice about key steps required to manage negative publicity about the business.

·           In response to a number of callers wishing to engage PR help who were concerned about an  event that may lead to adverse media attention, a new pre-publication consultancy service is available. This is available at the Insured's own expense.

·           Policyholders whose business has been exposed to adverse media (or social media) publicity are insured for to £10,000 under the terms of their ARAG Essential or Absolute Business Legal policy.

The actions required will depend on what has happened to lead to the publicity however professional help could be available to draft a media statement or press release, prepare communication for business customers, staff or suppliers, compose a telephone or website script and/or or social media messaging.
Support and representation can be arranged if the insured attends an event at which media will be reporting and to manage interaction with media outlets.