A guide to commercial legal protection A guide to commercial legal protection

Commercial legal protection can be particularly useful for small businesses that lack specialist legal expertise in-house. It is sold as an added benefit to any policies bought through us.

Most companies will inevitably require some kind of legal counsel at some stage. If and when you do, you'll want to know that you're covered.

Commercial legal protection can support your business in several areas, including:

Tax, VAT and HMRC

If your business comes up against a tax issue, or receives an enquiry from HMRC, commercial legal protection can provide:

• Access to guidance via an expert tax helpline
• Extra support if the issue becomes complex and costs mount up
• Cover for VAT disputes
• Cover for HMRC compliance issues and IR35 legislation

Employees

From unfair dismissal claims to contract disagreements, some people just like a fight. As a small business owner, having legal protection insurance could help support you by giving you:

• Access to the ARAG employment manual — a comprehensive day-to-day guide to best practice
• Access to ARAG BusinessLaw, so you can create and download your own legal documents, which can answer your regular contract and procedure questions
• Cover for most legal expenses and compensation costs for employee legal issues, like unfair dismissal

Court

From jury duty to being taken to court, legal proceedings can drag on for a long time and end up being very expensive. Commercial legal protection can cover:

• Court fee payments
• Attendance costs
• Charges for a lawyer's help

Taking legal action

Your business and workspace needs to be safe, for you, your employees and clients, and anyone else involved. If a situation comes up, such as damage caused by trespassers, and you need to take action, commercial legal protection can cover the associated costs.

IR35

Legal expense cover can provide protection when dealing with the HMRC and disputes that arise from IR35 — a tax rule that applies to contractors and freelancers working through their own limited company.

If HMRC thinks you’re working like an employee rather than running your own business, you could be on the hook for extra tax and National Insurance. That’s where IR35 comes in, and why having the right legal support can make all the difference.

Commercial legal through Superscript can only be bought alongside another business policy, like public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance or employers' liability insurance. It cannot be bought on its own.

Also, bear in mind that it won't cover your business for compensation costs resulting from a claim against you, so you may need additional cover for this.

Finally, it’s important to remember that while business insurance covers a range of eventualities and circumstances, it doesn’t cover everything. Please make sure to read your policy documents carefully to understand the full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your cover.

There are hundreds of examples of how legal protection can come into play, but here’s a real-life one.

Let’s say your business hires a freelance designer for a seasonal marketing campaign. That freelancer delivers their artwork in the wrong format and has deleted the original files. Along with the obvious headache, this could end up being an expensive mistake for you and everyone involved, with delays to the campaign and profit losses. Depending on the level of damage, you may need to seek a court dispute resolution.

In this case, commercial legal protection could kick in to cover you for court and other associated costs, while giving you support through a helpline.

With legal expertise on hand it could be much easier to avoid expensive claims — helping you to dot the i's and cross the t's in all your business interactions. To reduce the risk even further try to stay up-to-date with the laws and regulations affecting your business.

And if you're not sure — ask! Nobody can be an expert in everything, so seek specialist help if you need it.