We handle cases involving liability and compensation claims, as well as negotiations and dispute resolutions.
Business people and private person alike are required to take out insurance in order to manage risks, whether these might affect life and health, or property, or represent the liabilities assumed in conducting business. Most businesses and private persons therefore take out several insurance policies. There are also mandatory insurance policies giving one the right to compensation, of which the most important are road traffic insurance and professional injury insurance. Many companies and trade unions insure their employees and members through collective insurance schemes.
Dalan can provide assistance with every aspect of insurance cover, including liability insurance, material damage insurance (comprehensive insurance), business interruption insurance (consequential and lost-time insurance), natural catastrophe insurance, hidden defects insurance, motor vehicle insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, life assurance, accident insurance and medical insurance.
Our legal team also assists clients in matters pertaining to retirement pension insurance and pension settlements. The tax implications in such cases, for both the recipient and the company, may be considerable, and our tax lawyers are able to determine the tax impact of the agreements made and the payments involved.
Our clients include:
- Commercial companies, organisations and persons
- Private individuals
- Housing cooperative associations
- Owner-occupied housing associations
- Employers
- Employees
- Injured parties
- Parties with personal liability insurance, including board members, auditors, estate agents and lawyers
- Parties insured against loss or damage
How Dalan can help you
We assist clients in identifying their insurance requirements and scope of coverage, including questions relating to pension schemes and generational succession issues. Moreover, we provide assistance in cases involving personal liability and compensation settlements. We provide support for both the tortfeasor as well as the injured party, and in cases involving recourse between those responsible.
The assistance we provide for our clients includes the following:
- Insurance contracts, including assistance with assessments of insurance coverage, insurance terms, damage area and scope
- Negotiations
- Identification of relevant risk information
- Pension contracts, including support for employees, employers and other pension recipients and providers
- Assessments of pension contributions and pension co-ordination
- Negotiations
- Assessment of the tax situation for employees, employers and other pension recipients and providers
- Appraisal of labour law issues for employee and employer
- Generational succession: the transfer of all or parts of the company or firm to the next generation of the family, or to business colleagues
- Support for both insured party and tortfeasor, liability insurance and hidden defects insurance
- Assessments, advice, and negotiations in connection with the professional liability of board members, lawyers, estate agents, auditors etc., towards injured parties and one’s insurance company
- Identification of the scope of product liability and coverage, advice with respect to reporting, product recall, and the duty to meet salvage operation expenses, including coverage for such expenses
- Clarification of and support in meeting deadlines for notifying insurance claims
- Advice to seller faced with hidden defects insurance claims
- Advice to injured parties
- Clarification of liabilities, compensation claims and insurance cover options
- Negotiations and implementation of insurance settlements
The Insurance Contracts Act contains provisions that govern the contractual relationship between an insurance company on the one hand and, on the other hand, the policy holder (the party who signs the insurance contract) and the insured (the party who can, under the insurance contract terms, claim compensation or the amount insured). The rules are, in the main, mandatory both for private and commercial clients, which means that the insurance contract cannot place the client in a less favourable position than that prescribed by statute. The Act is in two parts: Part B deals with personal insurance, which includes life assurance, accident and medical insurance, while Part A deals with non-life insurance, which is basically all insurance that is not personal insurance. The formal requirements governing the administration of an insurance company, and public control of it, are laid down in the Financial Institutions Act.
An insurance dispute often gives rise to the question of whether the damage incurred is covered by the terms of the insurance contract, whether it is within the scope of cover as defined by the contractual conditions. If the wording is unclear or difficult to interpret, the doubt arising shall be at the expense of the company that formulated the contract. If the event insured against is covered, a question may arise as to how compensation should be calculated. A dispute may easily result here concerning the extent of the financial loss suffered by the client. Another cause of dispute might be whether there exists a causal chain between the event and the loss incurred. There might also be a question of whether compensation should be reduced because the policy holder has neglected to fulfil his duty to inform when entering into the insurance contract, or because the insured party has caused the insurance event through gross negligence or by a breach of the rules (safety regulations) established by the company.
Most insurance policies allow for a notification time limit of one year from the date of the insurance event. Moreover, one is entitled to be paid interest by the insurance company from two months after notification of the event is sent to the company. It is therefore important to notify the company as soon as possible after the occurrence of an event that may be covered by the insurance. One should also be aware that by waiting too long before taking legal action, one may exceed the time limit and forfeit one’s claim. The main rule is that a claim becomes invalid three years after the end of the calendar year in which the insured became aware of the insured event.
- Insurance contracts, the Insurance Contracts Act
- Pension contracts
- Hidden defects insurance
- Right to compensation, personal injury, damage to property and property damage liability insurance
- Product liability, including recall and salvage expenses
- Professional liability insurance for board members, lawyers, auditors and estate agents
- Medical insurance
- Workers’ compensation insurance
- Legal aid insurance
- Liability for recourse
- Reduced indemnity
- Tax on pensions
- Labour law
- Dispute resolution, negotiation and courtroom proceedings