The guarantee legal protection is an insurance policy that allows you to benefit from the coverage of your procedural costs or to obtain services in case of a dispute with a third party. For example: you took a seasonal rental and the landlord asks you for additional fees for degradation that you dispute.

The services may concern a judicial procedure (criminal, civil or administrative) or a friendly settlement procedure, initiated at your own initiative or at the initiative of your opponent.

You can take out the legal protection guarantee for yourself or your whole family.

The contract must specify the persons covered by the guarantee.

The legal protection guarantee is an optional guarantee.

The legal protection guarantee must be offered in a stand-alone contract or in a separate chapter of a contract signed for another guarantee (car, house, etc.), with an indication of its contribution.

You can take out the legal protection guarantee as a stand-alone contract with an insurance company or a bank.

You can also take out the legal protection guarantee with another insurance contract (car, home for example) or with a different insurance service (credit cards, association membership cards).

You can apply for legal expenses insurance

• when you receive a negative response to a complaint you have made
• or when you give a negative answer to a complaint addressed to you.

You must inform the insurer of the existence of a dispute between you and a third party within the period and in the form provided for in the contract.

You should also tell them what you need in terms of procedural fees or services.

You can perform legal consultations or procedural acts before the claim is declared, but in order for the insurer to accept them, you will have to prove that they were urgent. For example, if you urgently appoint a commissioner of justice to determine a situation in order to constitute evidence.

The guarantee legal protection provides services to you in the event of a dispute with a third party and covers your legal costs. The services provided under the warranty may vary from one insurer to another.

If you and the insurer disagree on how to handle your dispute, you may have recourse to an arbitrator appointed by mutual agreement with the insurer.

Where you have not been able to appoint an arbitrator by mutual agreement with the insurer, you may refer the matter to the President of the Court of Justice. He must deal with the matter under the urgent procedure.

The insurer is responsible for the costs of this procedure, but the President of the Court of Justice may decide to charge you the costs if he considers that your action is abusive. For example, if the insurer refuses to accompany you in the legal action because it believes that it has no chance of succeeding because it is prescribed and that the president of the judicial tribunal concur with this finding.

You may decide to take legal action at your own expense, despite the unfavorable opinion of the arbitrator.

If you obtain a better result in court than that proposed by the insurer and the arbitrator, the insurer must reimburse you for the costs of the proceedings, within the limits of what is provided for in the contract.

In the event of a conflict of interest between the insurer and you, or in the event of a disagreement as to how to resolve the dispute, the insurer must inform you of your right to choose the lawyer and of the possibility to refer the matter to the arbitrator or the President of the court.

There is a conflict of interest between the insurer and you when you need to use the legal expenses guarantee to manage a dispute between you and the insurer. For example, you ask the insurer to cover your legal fees for an action against him following a refusal to pay compensation.

The insurer must inform you of the cost of the legal expenses insurance contribution.

If the contract is not signed independently, the amount of the contribution must be clearly indicated in the specific chapter devoted to it.