Closing the UK’s access-to-justice gap

Advertising feature: David Haynes, ARAG CEO, explains why access to justice matters, the role the insurance industry plays in extending it, and why 2026 could prove a critical year.  

ARAG has been banging the drum for access to justice since the group was founded in Düsseldorf in 1935. But the importance of legal advice and affordable representation is recognised by all legal expenses insurers, in helping the justice system to operate fairly.

The wider insurance industry also plays a vital role in distributing legal cover and explaining the benefits, even if policyholders never need to make a claim. 

Together, the sector ensures millions of businesses and more than 10 million families have access to legal support when they need it, with hundreds of thousands making use of that support every year.

Legal protection can also help resolve disputes earlier. By supporting claimants in negotiating fair settlements and discouraging claims with little merit from reaching court, it can reduce the burden on an already stretched justice system.

Throughout the spring, ARAG is running its first public-facing advertising campaign in the UK. The aim is to support the brokers, MGAs and insurers through which legal protection is available, while raising wider awareness of the help it provides at a time when access to justice has been so diminished. 

The aim is to support the brokers, MGAs and insurers through which legal protection is available, while raising wider awareness of the help it provides at a time when access to justice has been so diminished.

David Haynes, ARAG

UK justice in crisis

In January, the new victims’ commissioner, Claire Waxman OBE, claimed that “…accessing justice has never been harder” for victims of crime. Meanwhile the cross-party charity JUSTICE warned that the ‘…lack of free advice and representation is undermining the rule of law’.

More recently, the introduction of the Courts and Tribunals Bill – with proposals to limit jury trials – grabbed the headlines but, at the same time, the Justice Select Committee was listening to evidence to its own enquiry into access to justice.

Free legal advice has been getting harder to access for years, while delays in getting cases into court have steadily increased. These pressures have a knock-on effect on other parts of the justice system and wider society. While the most acute impacts are often seen in criminal cases, civil matters such as money claims and employment disputes also affect both individuals and businesses and have broader economic implications.

It’s no coincidence that the latest WJP Rule of Law Index, published in October, showed the UK’s civil justice score drop again. Under the accessibility and affordability of civil justice measure, consistently the UK’s weakest, the country now ranks 30th out of 31 countries in its regional group, and 50th out of 51 countries in its income group.

There’s only so much of the ‘justice gap’ the insurance model can fill, but the sector continues to explore new ways in which legal support and protection can reach more people and businesses.

A sense of purpose

ARAG is excited to be working with The Purpose Coalition, a cross-party Westminster organisation led by former education secretary, Justine Greening. The coalition encourages businesses to help break down barriers to opportunity and boost social mobility.

Much of the coalition’s work focuses on what happens within businesses and their local communities. ARAG is looking at these dimensions too but believes inadequate access to justice is itself a barrier to opportunity and inhibits social mobility and economic participation.

Engagement with MPs and key stakeholders across Westminster is helping to raise awareness of legal protection, exploring how the legal expenses sector can play a bigger role in supporting the justice system.

Access to justice and the rule of law are often seen as abstract concepts that are hard to relate to everyday life, but their erosion has real-world consequences for individuals and small businesses across the country. 

Whatever we can do to reverse that, we will.

This is a paid-for advertorial.

Sponsored content