Imagine: you are being summoned for professional liability, or you are being summoned for a traffic violation, or you want to obtain compensation from someone or something, or you get involved in a complex inheritance issue, ……
..... then the costs that go with it will quickly (very ) high up. Just think of the fees and costs of lawyers and bailiffs, the costs of legal and extrajudicial proceedings, the costs and fees of legal experts, etc.
Through a legal assistance insurance you insure yourself against such costs: you pay an annual premium, so that your insurer will pay the aforementioned.
Up to now, little use has been made of an additional legal assistance insurance policy: most “legal subjects” are only insured for the criminal defense contained in the obligatory car insurance…
However, a “general” legal assistance insurance policy can prevent that to individuals and companies are denied access to justice. After all, it is often decided not to conduct proceedings, since the costs are too high; or one cannot afford proper defense. Thus, the legislator considered that a tax reduction for legal assistance insurance is appropriate.
From tax year 2020 a tax reduction of 40% applies to the premiums paid for legal assistance insurance from 1 September 2019, with a maximum of € 310 per year (net benefit of € 124 for 2020).
The legal basis for this is the Law of 22 April 2019 to make legal assistance insurance more accessible (see also the Royal Decree of 16 July 2019 on certificates for the tax reduction for premiums for legal assistance insurance). This law sets a number of conditions that the insurance contract must comply in order to benefit from the tax reduction. For example, the guarantee must apply to all (covered) disputes in the context of private and professional life and at least the following disputes must be covered:
- Claims for compensation (for contractual or extra-contractual liability);
- Your criminal defense;
- Disputes regarding tax law and administrative law (disputes with the government);
- Disputes with regard to the social status of self-employed persons;
- Disputes with regard to broad contract law, including consumer law;
- Disputes with regard to inheritance, gift and wills' laws;
- (the first) divorce / end of law living together;
- (the first) mediation in family matters.
What a wonderful thought that you don't have to worry about the costs associated with such disputes.
So don't hesitate and contact your insurance broker!
