Complement your business’s existing liability insurance
with cover for certain legal costs
Legal expenses insurance
Protect your organisation from the expense of legal action
Legal disputes are becoming more common, and the cost of pursuing or defending a claim can quickly strain a business.
Business legal expenses insurance helps cover approved legal costs for contractual disputes, particularly where standard policies like liability insurance do not apply.
At Ian Jones, our experienced legal expenses insurance brokers work to ensure your business has practical, tailored protection in place. In turn, you can enjoy greater financial certainty when disagreements arise.
Potential insurance policy inclusions
Safeguard against the legal expenses incurred from a range of common business risks. While inclusions vary by policy, cover may extend to the following areas.
Commercial contract disputes
Legal costs may be covered when pursuing or defending disputes with customers or suppliers. This can include matters such as unpaid invoices or disagreements over service delivery.
Property disputes
Cover can extend to legal costs associated with property matters, including lease disagreements or tenancy issues affecting your business premises.
Criminal prosecution
This may cover the legal costs of defending your business in criminal proceedings. It can also include funding for appeals against remedial notices or stop work orders issued under workplace health and safety laws.
Breach of restrictive covenants
If an ex-employee breaches contractual obligations such as non-compete or confidentiality clauses, cover may fund legal action taken to enforce those agreements.
Employment disputes
Legal expenses insurance may help fund the defence of claims brought by current or former employees. This can include issues relating to unfair dismissal or workplace disputes.
Data protection
Policies may assist with legal expenses if your business faces action under Australian privacy legislation, such as the cost of responding to data handling disputes.
Statutory licence
If your business licence is suspended, cancelled, restricted or changed by a regulator, legal expenses insurance may cover the cost of challenging that decision through an appeal.
Discrimination protection
Policies may also assist with legal expenses if your business is accused of breaching anti-discrimination laws.
Tax audit protection
Some policies help cover professional fees incurred during an ATO investigation or audit. This may include disputes relating to income tax, GST or fringe benefits tax.
Frequently Asked Questions
Commercial legal expenses insurance covers an organisation for certain classes of legal claims brought against it or provides the funds for pursuing legal proceedings against a third party. It may cover solicitor fees, court costs and related expenses for approved disputes.
For Australian businesses, this means you can pursue or defend legal matters without the full financial burden falling on your operating cash flow.
Instead of delaying action due to cost concerns, legal expenses insurance gives you access to funding and support when a dispute arises.
It is not a substitute for other forms of cover, but one to complement an organisation’s existing public liability, professional indemnity, D & O or Management Liability.
Legal expenses insurance can cover a range of common commercial disputes that businesses may face in Australia. This can include:
- Contractual disputes, like breach of contract claims
- ATO GST investigations or appeals
- Privacy Act disputes
- Property disputes, including lease or tenancy disagreements
- Employment-related matters, such as a fringe benefits dispute
- Debt recovery actions
Cover varies between policies, so it is important to review the specific inclusions. In general, the policy responds to defined legal events that affect your business operations.
Legal disputes can be costly and unpredictable, even when your business has acted appropriately. Legal expenses insurance helps manage this risk by reducing the financial impact of pursuing or defending a claim.
While not every business will require this type of cover, it can be valuable for organisations that regularly enter into contracts, deal with regulatory obligations, or operate in environments where legal disputes are more likely to occur.