Legal protection insurance (Austria)

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A legal expenses insurance is a private law contract of insurance where the insurer to pay premiums of the policy holder is obliged to represent the legal interests of the insured within the agreed scope and to take the necessary costs. It offers the necessary security in legal matters, eliminates financial and legal inequalities and thus represents an essential component of constitutional democracy. The basis of the special rights and obligations of the contracting parties to a legal protection insurance contract is the Insurance Contract Act (VersVG). On the other hand, the rights and obligations are based on the contractual agreements that are regularly agreed with the respective insurance company in the form of General Conditions for Legal Protection (ARB). For certain legal protection insurance benefits, in addition to general conditions, special conditions are often agreed.

Types of insurance

In contrast to composite insurance, a single line insurance only offers insurance cover for one line of business. With legal protection insurance taken out with the same insurer, this can lead to conflicts of interest, especially in the event of disputes arising from insurance contracts. A single line insurance, however, is independent in disputes arising from insurance contracts. B. with household insurance.

Scope of services

Legal protection insurance covers the costs in all instances up to the agreed sum insured. These are the costs of the policyholder himself:

  • Legal or notary fees
  • Costs for court, witnesses, court-appointed experts
  • A possible advance bail payment abroad - for example after a traffic accident

In addition, costs of the opponent in the event of the loss of a lawsuit are also covered.

A distinction is made in legal protection between private legal protection (insurance benefits for the private, professional and transport sectors) and corporate legal protection (insurance benefits for businesses, liberal professions, farmers, associations and communities). In addition to the policyholder, private legal protection often also includes the spouse or partner living in the same household as well as minor children; Children of legal age are sometimes insured if they are in vocational training and grandchildren if they live in the same household. In the vehicle legal protection, the owner, the keeper, the registered owner, the lessee, the authorized driver and the authorized occupants are also insured.

Temporal scope

In principle, insurance coverage begins as soon as the insurance policy is received . Some insurance companies agree that the insurance start date will be the day after the application is accepted. In special cases of legal protection insurance , waiting times are added, for example in general contract legal protection, legal protection for property and rent, labor court legal protection and social security legal protection. There is insurance coverage after a waiting period of three months. The waiting period for family and inheritance legal protection is six to nine months.

Protection exists for insured events that occur during the term of the insurance contract. Legal protection insurance usually has a term of ten years.

Geographic scope

Insurance cover consists of legal protection for vehicles (including legal protection for the vehicle contract), legal protection for the driver and damage and criminal legal protection for insured events that occur in Europe, the non-European Mediterranean countries, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores Air and ship travel within the limits of this scope. Legal interests must also be safeguarded in this area of ​​application. If an insured event occurs in other legal protection modules within Europe, the legal interests must be safeguarded in Austria. Special regulations are possible in different forms, but must be agreed individually.

Choice of lawyer

In principle, the policyholder can freely choose his lawyer for legal disputes. This free choice of lawyer is regulated by law. If he or she is unable or unwilling to make use of the free choice of lawyer, some insurers also recommend specialized lawyers to represent his rights. In addition, there are special legal protection insurers in Austria who also offer their policyholders the option of self-regulation by legal employees. As part of this special service, employed lawyers take on the handling of claims in the event of out-of-court disputes.

Deductible

It can be agreed in the insurance contract that the policyholder bears part of the costs himself. Usual deductibles are fixed amounts or a percentage of the claims payments.

case of insurance

The prerequisite for the obligation to enter into legal protection insurance is always the presence of an insured event. An insured event is usually understood to mean “the actual or alleged violation of legal obligations or legal provisions by the policyholder, opponent or a third party”. Special rules apply to legal protection for damages and in individual other areas. The insurers also check whether the prosecution offers sufficient prospect of success and whether the insured is not accused of having acted culpably. When a claim is reported, it is checked whether the legal dispute is insured.

Products

Legal protection insurance can be taken out for various areas of life, such as for the private sector, for work, for business or for the automotive sector. Legal expenses insurance are usually structured in a modular way. So you can decide whether to insure a complete package that covers all (offered) types of benefits, or to limit yourself to insurance cover for certain areas of life. The individual insurable risks can be found in the general legal protection conditions that are enclosed with the insurance policy . The following legal protection packages are offered:

Vehicle legal protection

This includes legal protection for damages, penalties and driving licenses for vehicles, with or without legal protection for vehicles under contract, depending on the agreement.

Examples:

  • Legal problems with the sales contract for a vehicle
  • Legal problems in enforcing claims for damages after an accident
  • Legal problems when driving licenses are revoked after an accident

Compensation and criminal legal protection

Insurance protection for legal problems for private, professional and business areas.

Examples:

  • Enforcement of claims for damages
  • Defense in criminal matters in court

Labor court legal protection

This includes insurance cover for disputes before Austrian labor courts.

Examples:

  • Legal problems with the clearance
  • Legal issues around employees
  • Legal problems due to disputes about company vehicles

Social security legal protection

Disputes with social security agencies are covered.

Examples:

  • Legal problems with pension rights

Advice legal protection

In principle, the insurance cover includes the cost of legal advice from a lawyer. Individual legal protection specialist insurers also offer a very wide range of legal protection advice. This includes e.g. B. Service offers such as online and personal legal advice as well as legal advice by telephone from employed lawyers.

General contract legal protection

Insurance cover exists in the event of disputes relating to contracts for movable property, insurance contracts and repair and work contracts.

Examples:

  • Legal problems with a refrigerator repair
  • Warranty claims from sales contracts

Legal protection for property and rent

The inhabited property is insured. It covers disputes over the main residence as well as conflicts over rights as a tenant or owner.

Examples:

  • Legal problems with terminating the rental agreement
  • Disputes with the landlord
  • Legal disputes in neighborhood disputes
  • Rent reduction due to defects

Legal protection for family law

This includes insurance cover for disputes between parents and children, legal disputes relating to matrimonial law and custody disputes.

Examples:

  • Legal conflicts in paternity disputes
  • Legal conflicts between parents and children

Legal protection for inheritance law

Disputes arising from inheritance law are covered

Example:

  • Problems with the will

In addition, various insurance companies offer other modules such as patient legal protection , failure insurance for physical injury or anti-stalking legal protection .

Legal bases

Legal protection insurance is based on the Insurance Contract Act, the respective tariff and the General Legal Protection Conditions (ARB). The Association of Insurance Companies in Austria (VVO) has published sample terms and conditions for legal protection insurance .

Risk exclusions

Legal protection insurance cannot cover the costs of all legal disputes. Certain disputes, which are too burdensome for the community of all policyholders due to high costs and frequency, must be ruled out in order to keep legal protection affordable. The risk exclusions are regulated in the ARB. General exclusions apply to all modules, special exclusions only apply to individual modules. The most common exclusions relate to company law, competition law or the risk of building owners (disputes in connection with the financing, planning and construction or modification of buildings, parts of buildings or land owned or owned by the policyholder.) The insurance also does not cover costs if people are co-insured with one another or want to assert claims against the policyholder as well as insurance cases that have been caused intentionally or unlawfully.

history

The first forerunners of the legal protection idea can already be found in the Middle Ages (Eideshilfe in old Germanic protection guilds). In France, legal costs insurance experiments were carried out both in the 19th century (again banned by the French Court of Cassation in 1824) and before the First World War (1905 until the end of the war). A similar attempt by the Austrian company "Phönix" in 1935 only led to the conclusion of around 100 contracts and was soon canceled again. Some companies, on the other hand, had somewhat greater success, and they wisely limited themselves to a narrowly limited area of ​​expertise from the outset (especially covering the costs of mining damage litigation and disputes under shipping law). The idea of ​​insurance for legal disputes arising from traffic accidents spread as motorization advanced. In 1928 the first legal protection insurance, DAS, was founded in Germany. ARAG followed in 1935. To this day, the idea of ​​legal protection is based on the fact that legal protection insurance offers the necessary security. Legal protection insurance is an essential component of constitutional democracy, especially in increasingly complex living conditions and a flood of regular changes to the law.

See also

swell

literature

  • Klaus Schneider: Legal protection insurance for beginners. 1st edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-60445-4 .