In Canada, 3 out of 10 small business owners dealt with the stress and disruption of handling a legal dispute during the past three years. In an attempt to resolve these disputes, both parties were required to hire lawyers, having to pay up to $400 an hour. The top three sources of legal conflict are:
- Collecting money owed by customers
- Contract disputes with customers
- Contract disputes with suppliers
Considering there are millions of self-employed and small-medium business owners, that's a lot of unnecessary distraction and time away from running their business. Especially when a solution is available to both empower and protect them in case of unforeseen legal disputes.
In order to better understand small business owners' experiences and attitudes towards legal disputes, DAS Canada engaged Ipsos to conduct an online panel survey of over 1,000 business owners from across Canada. Here are some of the key findings:
- 73% believe a legal dispute would have a tangible financial impact on their business, but only 27% have set aside budget to protect their business from the potential costs involved with legal disputes
- Only 12% of business owners feel they have sufficient insurance coverage to cover any type of unforeseen legal expenses
- 1 out of 10 small business owners know another owner who lost their business due to a legal dispute
"Our research findings suggest that while business owners appreciate the significant impact a legal dispute could have on them, many unfortunately are either not being proactive or feel fully protected," says Barbara Haynes, CEO of DAS Canada. "That's where legal expense insurance can help. It fills the gap in their insurance portfolio and gives business owners peace of mind, so they can focus on what matters most – growing their business."
