DAS UK Holdings, the parent company of the Bristol-based legal expenses insurer, has said swift action to adapt to substantial changes in its markets had paid off, resulting in annual pre-tax profits rising by 9% to £12.1m on record income of £199.6m.
DAS was the first insurer to completely change its ATE (after the event) business model following the introduction of far-reaching LASPO (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders) Act in April last year. 
It said that meant its ATE business volumes recovered quickly and grew beyond pre-LASPO levels.
This growth was mainly due to the introduction of a new clinical negligence product and DAS’s entry into the civil litigation market, where it provides indemnity limits of up to £3m for commercial and other litigation.
DAS also became the first insurer to own a law firm and gain an ABS (alternative business structure) licence. DAS acquired Bristol-based online legal services company Everything Legal, which operates the fast-growing Law on the Web and Claims Financial businesses, in December 2011.
DAS claims its DAS Law business model makes it significantly more efficient than most solicitor firms and allows it to deal successfully with changes in the personal injury fixed costs regime. DAS Law now has teams handling employment, property and contract, as well as personal injury and has recently developed a will writing proposition.
DAS has also been successful in developing its business beyond the UK. Alongside strong results in Ireland the company’s Canadian business is performing well. DAS also started writing business in Norway and said it will continue to expand into new territories as and when suitable opportunities arise.
DAS UK Group chief executive Paul Asplin claimed the company’s scale, experience and resources put it in a very strong position to deal with the general increase in regulatory scrutiny and specific regulatory issues such as the future of add-on sales.
“DAS UK is unique in the legal protection market; a UK-domiciled insurance company and a member of one of the world’s largest insurance groups, Munich Re,” he said. “With our scale, expertise, resources and financial backing business partners can be confident that DAS has the strength to deliver in the new regulatory environment, including Solvency II and the FCA add-ons review, something that many of our competitors, who are mainly underwritten or domiciled overseas, may struggle with.”
The 10% rise in income to £199.6m included a 45% increase in ATE sales on 2012, primarily due to the high volume of ATE business pre the implementation of the LASPO Act.
DAS has been a pioneer of the legal expenses insurance market since the concept was introduced to the UK in 1975. Its products provide protection against unforeseen legal costs for millions of families and motorists, and hundreds of thousands of businesses.
