Exercising the right to pursue or defend against legal action isn’t always straightforward. Many Canadians find themselves too wealthy to qualify for legal aid, but not wealthy enough to afford a lawyer. Clearly, this is not in the best interest of the individuals, our society or the legal profession.
The premise of legal expense insurance (LEI) is that we enter into a commitment to indemnify a policyholder who consists of both individual consumers and businesses, against liability for legal costs arising from a fortuitous event. We will indemnify the policyholder by covering:
- Legal fees;
- Disbursements and out-of-pocket costs including court fees, expert witness fees, medical reports etc; and,
- Adverse costs when awarded against the insured for settlement between the parties.
The Bureau du Quebec has been an active supporter of LEI for some time, as has the CEO of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Says Malcolm Heins: “The Law Society believes that legal expense insurance is a useful insurance product, because it has the potential of making legal services more accessible and affordable for people who don’t qualify for legal aid.”
Our overriding philosophy is to develop and provide high quality legal expense products and legal services. It is this quality of service, coupled with a commitment to offering a dependable yet flexible approach, that enables us to build long term, mutually beneficially relationships with both policyholders and the legal community.
