Member guide. Legal. FSB Legal Advice Line Member guide. FSB Legal protection scheme

Transcription

1 Member guide Legal FSB Legal Advice Line Member guide FSB Legal protection scheme

2 FSB Legal Protection Insurance As a current member you are protected by Legal Protection Insurance. The insurance covers full, joint, retired and associate members for certain business related activities. There is a limit of 50,000 for Any One Claim. The insurance is subject to various terms and conditions, including a prospects of success clause, and there are exclusions. The following is a Summary of Cover of the Policy. A copy of the full Policy, effective at any time, was given to you when joining the FSB and further updated copies are always available from FSB Head Office and the FSB Website This insurance is underwritten by Brit Syndicate 2987 at Lloyd s of London on a Claims Made basis and is administered by Abbey Legal Protection, a trading division of Abbey Protection Group Limited. It covers claims notified to the FSB during your current membership. It does not cover events, disputes or potential disputes in existence before your membership began. Please note: If you need to make a claim, act quickly to maximise your prospects of success. Claims will not be admitted if they are made more than six months after you first became aware of a likely dispute. Claims under Section C Tax of the policy will only be admitted if they are notified within six months of you receiving written notice from the Tax or VAT authorities. You must notify FSB Legal Claims Department on (see How to Make a Claim) as soon as you are aware of a circumstance which might lead to a claim. You will be sent an appropriate claim form. You must not incur legal expenses before the Insurer has accepted your claim and authorised you to proceed. Protect yourself - always notify immediately! FSB Legal Protection Insurance Policy Summary A summary of what you are covered for in relation to your business activities. Section A Criminal Prosecution Defense Legal representation for criminal prosecutions which include: Road Traffic Act prosecutions Tachograph prosecutions Weight prosecutions Appeal against an Improvement Notice under the Health & Safety at Work Act, Consumer Protection Act & Food Safety Act Speeding offences Persistent offenders Tax-related matters Proven cases of fraud or theft Prosecution under the Company Directors Disqualification Act Section A2 Jury Service Up to 100 per day with a maximum of 1,000 per claim for losses incurred due to you or an employee attending jury service If notification of jury service was prior to when you joined the FSB

3 Section B Employment Disputes Defense Legal representation Basic and Compensatory Awards A dispute relating to TUPE regulations Pursuit of an action IMPORTANT Cover is conditional upon you taking the following actions: (this list is non-exhaustive) You must seek and follow advice from the Legal Advice Line ( ) in respect of the situations specified in the insurance policy. Namely prior to carrying out any disciplinary procedure, dismissal process, conducting pre-termination negotiations, dismissal, redundancy programme, redundancy or proposing or making any adverse alteration to an employee s terms and conditions of employment and prior to notifying an employee of their intended retirement date or retiring the employee. You must also seek advice from the Legal Advice Line before accepting a resignation, immediately an employee walks out or raises a grievance or if you receive formally or informally a complaint relating to discrimination, victimisation or harassment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/ maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Section C Tax Protection Defense Representation by our Consultancy Service before or at meetings, hearings, tribunals or examinations relating to Corporation or Income Tax full and aspect enquiries, PAYE Employer Compliance disputes and VAT disputes IR35 enquiries or disputes Late accounts submitted Members Accountants acting National Minimum Wage disputes Attendance at a normal VAT Control visit before a dispute arises Attendance at a PAYE Compliance visit prior to a dispute arising Specialist investigation enquiries The FSB Legal Protection Insurance protects members who are subjected to an HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) enquiry. The policy provides cover in respect of both Full and Aspect enquiries and provides for a specialist tax consultant, from Abbey Tax Protection, to be appointed to represent you throughout the duration of the enquiry. The tax consultant will meet with you and the Inspector as necessary, deal with all correspondence arising and liaise with your accountant. If work is required of your accountant, their fees will be paid subject to them being agreed in advance. AccessAbility help If you require this document in an alternative format please ring or AccessAbility@fsb.org.uk

4 Section D Property Disputes Pursuit Legal representation for pursuing third parties for nuisance or damage to the business premises or for a breach of a repairing covenant in a Lease Contractual disputes Rent, tax, planning, building regulations, road works under the order of a local authority or government Defending a claim for property damage Rent reviews/service charges disputes Partnership disputes Intellectual property right disputes Libel, slander or malicious falsehood Judicial Reviews Residential property Section E Data Protection Defense Legal representation for defending legal proceedings brought by the Registrar or appeals against the refusal of an application or Enforcement Notice Pursuing an action under the Data Protection Act Section F Personal Injury Pursuit Legal representation for pursuit of damages for a business-related injury Legal representation for an injunction to prevent the return of an assailant to your business premises Medical negligence Pharmaceutical or drug-related claims To defend a claim Section G Statutory Licence Defense Legal representation if an essential Licence is under threat of suspension, revocation, alteration or non-renewal Application for a licence Disciplinary or internal hearings conducted by authorities charged with the regulation of the member in the performance of Professional Duty IMPORTANT Cover is conditional upon you taking the following actions: (this list is non-exhaustive) If you receive a verbal or written warning from a person in a position of authority which in any way directly or indirectly threatens the continuity of your legal right to operate your business you must seek and act on the advice of the Legal Advice Line on

5 How to make a claim Please telephone the Legal Claims Department on where the procedure will be explained to you and a claim form issued. Complaints If you have a complaint concerning the Legal Protection Insurance, in the first instance, please write to the Chairman of FSB (Member Services) Ltd, Sir Frank Whittle Way, Blackpool Business Park, Blackpool FY4 2FE. You are also entitled to write to the Customer Services Manager, Abbey Legal Protection, Minories House, 2-5 Minories, London EC3N 1BJ. We will do our best to resolve your complaint but, if you are still not satisfied, you can refer the matter to; Policy Holder and Market Assistance at Lloyd s and/or Financial Ombudsman Service Full details, including your right to compensation through the Financial Services Compensations Scheme (FSCS), are available in the full policy wording. FSB Legal Advice Line The FSB Legal Advice Line is provided by solicitors, barristers, taxation and health & safety experts. The advice is provided as a right of membership to FSB members, except for the cost of the call which is charged at your network local rate wherever in the UK you are calling from. When calling you will be asked to validate your entitlement to advice by stating your Membership Number (see your membership card) and the postcode of your address (as recorded by the FSB). Please have any relevant papers to hand and note that in the interests of monitoring the quality of the advice, conversations may be recorded. A Call Reference Number will be allocated by the receptionist and/or the adviser, a note of which should be kept by you in the event that you need to make further calls on the same subject. Subjects covered by the advice line include: General Legal Advice - 24 hours a day Scottish Legal Advice - 24 hours a day Employment Advice - 24 hours a day Safety & Environmental Advice - 9am to 5pm, Mon to Fri Tax, VAT & PAYE Advice - 9am to 5pm, Mon to Fri FSB Legal Information Online Offering you easy to access information online covering all your legal, tax and health & safety needs. Members continue to find it useful, informative and a necessary weapon in the continual battle to keep abreast of legal developments. The website can be divided into four main areas: Employment Law Taxation Matters Business Law Health & Safety Information The service is not suitable for seeking legal advice from the Legal Advice Line, but it does guide you through the complexities of the law, as well as providing a comprehensive selection of free documents downloadable in Word format. The site is restricted to members only. Whilst on the site you will also have access to: What s New Employment Law Online Fact Sheets New Employer Tip Sheets Contact Us Links Legal News Taxation Matters Online Health & Safety Online Free Documents FAQ s Fee Paying Legal Service In addition, an FSB Employment Bulletin is ed to members every month.

6 Important Information Telephone advice services In the interest of monitoring the quality of advice given, and where appropriate to ensure compliance with Policy conditions, conversations may be recorded. The member agrees that in all circumstances Abbey Legal Protection and Abbey Legal Services have the member s express permission to listen to any of these recordings and expressly authorises the adviser to provide these recordings to the Claims Department and Underwriting Department of Abbey Legal Protection. Legal advice services The telephone and on-line legal advice services are provided by Abbey Legal Services, a division of Abbey Protection Group Limited and can advise on general UK law. Abbey Protection Group Limited is authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in respect of legal services only. Abbey Legal Services makes no additional charge for providing these services. The advice will primarily be provided by Abbey Legal Services and its teams of solicitors and barristers, who are ultimately managed by the Director of Legal Services (who is a lawyer). If the member has a complaint about these legal advice services they should contact the Customer Services Manager, Abbey Legal Services, Corinthian House, 17 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, CRO 2BX, or via at: ALScustomercare@abbeylegal.com If the member is unhappy with the written response from the Customer Services manager, they may contact the Legal Ombudsman at PO Box 6806 Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ, or or The Legal Ombudsman will only consider matters which have been submitted to it within the earliest of the following timescales: (a) within 1 year from the act/omission complained of; (b) within 1 year from when the member should reasonably have known there was cause for a complaint, without taking advice from a third party and; (c) within 6 months of the member receiving a written reply from Abbey Protection Group Limited concerning the complaint. Tax advice services The telephone and on-line tax advice services are provided by Abbey Tax Protection, a trading division of Abbey Tax and Consultancy Services Limited. If the Insured has a complaint about these services they should contact the Customer Services Manager, Abbey Tax Protection, One Mitchell Court, Castle Mound Way, Rugby CV23 0UY. The Notional Federation of Self Employed and Small Businesses Ltd (trading os Federation of Small Businesses or FSB) does not accept legal liability for anything said to members by other members of FSB or by FSB employees or by anyone on behalf of FSB. FSB does not give legal advice. Anything said by FSB to members is intended as initial guidance only and is not to be relied upon or acted upon by members os substantive advice. Members should seek appropriate professional advice. Members may be able to obtain such advice from the FSB Advice Line organised by Abbey Protection Group Limited, which is a separate legal entity to FSB. If members obtain advice from the Advice Line, FSB does not have liability to members in respect of that. The FSB Advice Line is available to you personally as a member of the FSB to receive legal advice - in exceptional circumstances you may authorise on employee or partner to use the Advice Line on your behalf in connection with your business. In these circumstances you accept that neither Abbey Protection Group Limited, nor the FSB will be responsible for any conflict of interest or damages arising in connection with your business interests. Member guide FSB Legal protection scheme