ARAG has partnered with The Purpose Coalition to launch Insuring Justice, a national campaign aimed at demonstrating the role of legal protection insurance in the UK's justice system.
The campaign will focus on how legal insurance can provide earlier access to advice, help resolve disputes and reduce demand on public services. It will also seek to build public and political understanding of the legal protection insurance sector, which the ABI defines as coverage for the cost of legal advice or pursuing and defending a civil claim.
Policies are often bundled into home or motor insurance. Data shows 28% of home buildings insurance policies offer legal expenses cover as standard, with 59% offering it as an optional extra.
Rt Hon Justine Greening, chair of The Purpose Coalition, said legal protection "is far more than an insurance product" and described it as "a lifeline that helps people assert their rights, avoid crisis and stay securely on their feet."
The campaign arrives against the backdrop of a widening access-to-justice crisis. Research from the Legal Services Board found that 3.6 million adults in England and Wales have an unmet legal need involving a dispute every year.
A subsequent LSB survey, compiled with The Law Society and YouGov, found that 64% of respondents had experienced a legal problem in the previous four years, equating to roughly 29.8 million people. Only 33% of UK adults agreed that "people like me can afford help from a lawyer."
Much of that pressure traces back to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which significantly reduced the scope of civil legal aid from 2013 onwards. Ministry of Justice figures show civil representation certificates fell from around 146,000 in 2012/13 to 110,000 in 2024/25.
The Law Society has warned that 40% of legal aid providers will leave the sector in the next five years, while around 80% of private family law cases now involve at least one litigant in person.
ARAG UK CEO David Haynes called Insuring Justice "a truly exciting project and one that we hope will have an enduring impact on everyday justice in the UK." He said The Purpose Coalition "serves a really important role in connecting businesses and helping them to deliver impact beyond their own markets."
The campaign builds on ARAG's existing community engagement. Two of its senior legal professionals, Allison Lewis and William Ellerton, were appointed in 2024 as trustees at Bristol Law Centre for four-year terms, extending a collaboration of more than two years.
Haynes said the centre "provides vital support to some of the most disadvantaged people in our community."
The UK Civil Justice Council concluded in a 2017 report that legal protection insurance offers many people access to significant legal assistance, noting that LPI helplines are filling a real gap in the marketplace, with 80% of issues resolved in-house.
