All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey

Hearty casseroles and soups, the rugby season and chatting in the office about the Christmas party; it must be autumn. At this time of year we all crave the last glimpses of light and finer weather before the clocks fall back an hour, signifying the end of British Summer time. As the nights draw in you want your home to be warm and cosy, somewhere to hide away from the worst of the winter weather.

If your boiler won’t work or a freeze causes a burst pipe it can make things really uncomfortable.

Many people in the UK don’t know about Home Emergency Insurance or think that their home insurance covers it. Here at ARAG, we need your help and expertise to spread the word about how our Defaqto 5 star standard product plugs the gap.

This is a typical example of the way our cover helps customers.  During a particularly cold snap last winter, on a Saturday morning, our insured’s boiler broke down. The lady had three young children, so they were naturally keen to resolve the problem as soon as possible. The insured contacted us and we immediately appointed a contractor who attended the same day. A replacement part was needed but thankfully this was available locally so was fitted immediately so the family was able to enjoy the benefits of a cosy home.

Help is available when needed most. Our service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and for additional peace of mind all our permanent repairs are guaranteed for 12 months. An emergency is a stressful situation and people expect things to be rectified fast. That is why we have chosen our partners very carefully and constantly monitor performance to maintain great standards.

So as we prepare for a busy period of emergency calls, now is the best time to advise that our Home Emergency Insurance cover will help keep your customer’s home safe and comfortable to live in.

Glynis Moss

Marketing Executive  

The importance of BTE insurance as a funding option

I first worked with Rocco Pirozollo general editor of the Law Society Litigation Funding Hand Book when we both sat on the ABI’s Legal Expenses Insurance committee many years ago and more recently when I chaired an ABI-sponsored but independent working group which reported on consumer aspects of BTE. I was flattered to be approached by Rocco towards the end of 2012 to write a chapter of “the handbook”.

Rocco’s vision was to provide comprehensive practical help to busy litigators following the Jackson reforms. He has written three chapters of the book himself while inviting others to contribute the different chapters according to their fields of expertise. The project moved slowly for a time as reforms were rolled out and new cost rules published but earlier this year it was full steam ahead and it was great to see the book published in September.

The panel litigator system that legal expenses providers operate is disliked by many law firms so it may not be surprising that the BTE chapter is tucked away at the back of the book.  However, legal expenses policies provide welcome financial support to consumers and businesses. At ARAG we aim to be fair to our customers and to their preferred law firm when freedom of choice of lawyer applies.  My hope is that by being fully informed of pros and cons of many possible funding options litigators will feel more comfortable about recommending BTE as a preferred method of litigation funding.

Lesley Attu Product Development Manager

http://www.litigationfutures.com/blog/a-handy-handbook

ARAG enhances winning formula for Landlords

New and existing private sector landlords can expect much more from their revised ARAG legal protection policy without ever making a claim. Landlords Legal Solutions has been completely re-written and now includes more free legal documents from its digital documents service as well as higher benefits and fewer restrictions or excesses.

Our landlords' policy was already the complete package and you don't spoil a winning formula but you do make important improvements around the edges. Key to this approach is the use of even clearer language, generous uplifts in benefits and the removal of excesses or other complications.

We want policyholders to know exactly what they are getting cover for and to make use of the free added-value services such as helplines and document services. Experience tells us that these additional services are highly valued, giving significant peace-of-mind to landlords, and helping agents retain business even when no claim has been made.

Substantial increases have been made to benefits. Alternative accommodation for landlords when vacant possession is impossible now stands at up to £175 per day, maximum £5250, with storage refunds up to a maximum of £300 also being covered.

Standard cover includes: repossession; property damage, nuisance and trespass (now without any excess); recovery of rent arrears; accommodation and storage costs; prosecution defence; plus the landlords' legal service website online law guide, monthly newsletter, tax and 24-hour legal helplines. Legal documents available free to landlords now include the licence agreement to rent a room, plus the most commonly needed customisable texts such as the initial letter concerning rent arrears, the demand for rent from tenants, plus section 8 and 21 notices(notice to quit, notice of repossession).

Three optional extensions remove worries over non-payment of rent, disputes over contracts or the tax affairs of the policyholder. Rental indemnities are offered with a choice of compensation for 5 of the first six months in arrears or 11 out of 12 months on a yearly option. Contracts for such work as construction, or designing, converting or extending any building, are covered up to £6000 including VAT. The cost of defending investigations into landlords' tax affairs by HMRC can also be added to the cover.

David Haynes

Head of Underwriting & Marketing

Expansion continues at ARAG following record results

ARAG is continuing its expansion programme with recruitment across the board, having just announced record trading and profits and the expectation of more to come.

Of eight new starters, the latest recruits are Peter Collins and Lisa Abrahams who are now working in the South East for the BTE (before-the-event) and ATE (after-the-event) sales teams respectively. Both are well known in the field of legal protection with backgrounds in insurance and the law.

Peter's career has taken him from the Magistrates Courts to legal protection and a solicitor firm, before starting with ARAG as Broker Account Manager. He will concentrate on the Home Counties (apart from the City) where he believes there are significant new business opportunities to develop and maintain profitable scheme business, whilst continuing to provide support and service to all clients.

Lisa also joined ARAG at the start of July. After 13 years in legal expenses, firstly as BTE claims handler then later as Business Manager and transferring to ATE as a senior underwriter, she has an extensive mix of legal and insurance knowledge to assist in the role. An associate member of CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) she is developing new relationships with solicitors in the South East and maintaining existing ones.

Refurbishment and expansion of ARAG's Bristol Head Office was completed earlier in the year. An increase of over 60 % working space was acquired to accommodate the staff needed to meet projections of continuing growth in the medium to long term.

ATE premiums remain recoverable for Mesothelioma Claims for the time being

Last December the Government announced its intention to apply sections 44 and 46 of the Legal Aid Punishment and Sentencing of Offenders Act 2013 (LASPOA) - which prevent winning claimants recovering their lawyer’s success fees and their ATE premiums from defendants - to Mesothelioma cases with effect from July 2014. This position was confirmed in March this year however LASPOA also provided that sections 44 and 46 could not be brought into effect until Ministers had carried out a review.

The Justice Select Committee’s third report which was released at the beginning of this month revealed that there were starkly opposing views on this matter. While representatives of mesothelioma victims, claimant lawyers and trades unions argued that special characteristics of mesothelioma claims made it necessary to maintain their exemption from sections 44 and 46 LASPOA, the Government, defendant lawyers and insurers considered continuing the exemption was not justified. The Select Committee noted that debate in both Houses on LASPOA showed that the package of reforms was controversial, and especially so in relation to mesothelioma cases.

The Government’s cost-benefit analysis assumed that ATE policies would no longer operate and suggested that there would be a net overall benefit to claimants whose 10% increase in compensation would outweigh the cost of success fees and ATE premiums. The Select Committee cited the analysis as “an exercise in premature conjecture” since insufficient time had elapsed to assess what the likely effect of the proposed reforms will be.  The analysis was not accepted by the Select Committee as being reliable and it was recommended that the Government commission an independent review of mesothelioma claims outcomes.

The process of the Government’s review was found to be poorly timed and “maladroit” as it had been “shoehorned” into a wider consultation on the claims process.  The Committee expressed concern that by entering into a “Heads of Agreement” with the Association of British Insurers, representing the interests of defendant insurers the Government had not been transparent and open and the agreement had shaped Government policy. 

The Committee’s overall conclusion was that the Government review had not be approached in an even-handed way and it recommend that a further review by means of a consultation framed unambiguously and centrally on the question of whether the LASPOA provisions should be brought into effect for mesothelioma should be carried out only when sufficient time has elapsed for the effects of the LASPOA changes in non-mesothelioma cases to have been assessed. The Committee also recommended that the Government commission research to evaluate trends in the ATE insurance market in relation to personal injury claims since the provisions of Part 2 of LASPOA came into force.

So, with regard to ATE insurance for mesothelioma cases, it’s business as usual with premiums remaining recoverable for the foreseeable future. We will be announcing some interim changes to ATE premium rates shortly however it could be some considerable time before “post LASPOA” models apply to these cases compressing the risk and causing rates to tumble significantly.   

Lesley Attu

Product Development Manager