New competitor in legal insurance market

KEIKANTSE LESEMELA
Correspondent | Tuesday January 22, 2013 00:00

 

Legal Wise, a South African legal expenses insurer, recently opened shop in Botswana with the opening of a branch in Gaborone. It offers its members the power to enforce and defend their rights through professional legal representation.  Currently, the industry is dominated by BIHL's Legal Guard, which is estimated to have a market share of around 80 percent.

Speaking with Mmegi Business yesterday, Jan Luwes, Chief Executive Officer, Legal Expenses Insurance Southern Africa said there is a growing demand and need for legal expenses insurance in Botswana.  'Over the years we have had enquiries from Botswana and seeing that need, we finally considered extending our operations into Botswana,' he said.He explained that Legal Wise is best suited to Batswana because it offers affordable premiums of P79 per month.He said clients will have access to legal assistance for civil, criminal and labour related matters. Coverage also includes assistance in family matters like divorce and child maintenance, consultations with legal counselors and up to P79 000 cover for attorney fees per matter.

Legal Wise offers support for its members by providing legal advice and covering legal fees, regardless of whether the member is the claimant or the defendant.  Luwes further said LegalWise covers not only the primary member, but also their spouse or partner and all children under the age of 18 or 21 if they are studying full-time at a school, college or university. The protection  also pays P7 500 in cash for legal expenses in the event of the accidental death of a main member.

Fazel Ameen, Divisional Head of Legal Wise Botswana highlighted that an increasing number of Batswana are finding themselves battling inheritance, family, land and other disputes without proper legal guidance because they cannot afford good legal representation. 'People are afraid not only of the costs, length and uncertain outcome of court proceedings but also of the costs of legal representation. As a consequence, a lot of people do not even try to assert their rights', said Ameen.Legal Wise offers 24-hour service to clients with assistance by a legal counselor either face-to-face in the branch, telephonically or through an external lawyer.

Legal Wise was licensed with the Non-banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) in October last year and started its operations in December. It has sold 500 policies to date.  The company has 80 branches in South Africa with 60 attorneys.LegalWise's biggest rival, Legal Guard recently announced that it is re-engineering its products in order to offer a broader range of services to the market.  Under Legal Guard's new products, Mmueledi and Elite, customers will also receive roadside assistance extending to South Africa, a cash back plan and extended cover.