Legal Insurance: A Solution for Improving Access to Justice? (in French only)

Author

Me Marie-Hélène Beaulieu, Jacinthe Lauzon

Organization

Option consommateurs

Published

2007

Summary

To improve access to the justice system, insurance companies are now offering their customers insurance products that will cover a portion of legal costs arising from a legal dispute. The legal protection plan created by the insurance companies is designed to give people access to information on their rights and courses of action if they pay a monthly premium and have an income greater, for example, than the income provided for by the provincial laws governing legal aid; these plans may even pay for representation in court if necessary. These private-sector insurance companies are also therefore meeting a need created by the underfunding of the Canadian legal system. The introduction of this new insurance coverage raises a number of questions, notably, does this legal insurance provide for a genuine low-cost solution to the problem? The aim of this study, therefore, is to measure the impact of legal insurance on the consumer’s access to justice. To this end, this study offers a background to the legal aid system in Quebec and the issue of access to justice, an overview of the “legal insurance” product as it exists in the province of Quebec, and an overview of the “legal insurance” product as it exists in various European countries. In order to gauge how consumers and the public view this product, we conducted thirty interviews, fifteen with participants who had purchased a legal insurance policy and fifteen who had not purchased a legal insurance policy. We also completed an analysis of legal insurance contracts from five insurance companies in order to assess their legibility to consumers.

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French only

OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database