A legal expenses insurer may refuse assistance if a conflict falls outside the insured period, was already foreseeable or falls within a waiting period. The refusal must, however, fit the exact policy and the facts. Draw up a timeline of the insurance, the events and the first signs of the dispute. Ask which event the insurer regards as decisive and why.
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Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury. Onur Arslan practised for many years as a corporate lawyer and insolvency trustee (curator) and has extensive experience in financial law disputes. Last updated: 22 September 2026.
The moment you need a lawyer is not always the moment at which a conflict begins according to the insurance. Conversely, an old agreement or earlier irritation is not automatically the same as the new dispute for which you are now seeking help. That is exactly where discussions often arise.
Existing conflict, foreseeability and waiting period
An existing conflict is a dispute that was already present when the insurance or the relevant cover began. Foreseeability may relate to circumstances that made a legal problem predictable at that time. A waiting period is an agreed initial period during which certain events do not yet give a right to assistance.
These concepts may appear side by side in the policy. Ask which ground the insurer is relying on. A refusal based on a waiting period, for example, calls for a calculation of dates and a check of any exceptions. Reliance on foreseeability mainly calls for an assessment of what you knew and what the policy says about it.
There is no universal waiting period for all legal expenses insurance policies. The length may differ per product and module; sometimes no waiting period applies, or there is an exception. Do not adopt a period used by another insurer.
Which date is decisive?
Set the application date, acceptance, commencement date and any module extension side by side. Then add the date of the relevant event, your first complaint, the other party’s response and the eventual legal escalation.
In an employment conflict, a first warning, an announced reorganisation and a later dismissal may be different moments. In a purchase dispute, the purchase, the discovery of a defect and the refusal to repair are not necessarily the same either. The policy must determine which moment or which connection is relevant for cover.
Ask the insurer to support the date it has chosen with a specific document. An undated summary is harder to verify than the e-mail on which the conclusion is based.
An old contract is not automatically an old conflict
Many legal problems arise from an agreement that has existed for years. That fact alone does not automatically make the conflict uninsured. What matters are the events and criteria the insurance applies.
A worked fictitious example shows which date matters where. Take this policy clause, which appears in similar wording in many policies:
“Excluded is a dispute that arose before the commencement date of this insurance, or which, when taking out the insurance, you could reasonably have foreseen would arise. A dispute has arisen at the moment when an opposing position is taken for the first time.”
| Date | Event | What proves it? | Significance under this clause |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May 2019 | You sign the tenancy agreement | Tenancy agreement | Not relevant in itself: an old contract is not an old conflict |
| 1 March 2024 | Commencement date of legal expenses insurance, with a three-month waiting period | Policy schedule | Cover from 1 June 2024, provided the dispute arises after that date |
| 12 June 2024 | You receive the annual service charges statement with a supplementary charge of € 1,900 | Dated statement | Not yet a dispute: no opposing position has been taken yet |
| 20 June 2024 | You e-mail the landlord objecting and asking for a breakdown | Sent e-mail | Still no dispute: only one position |
| 8 July 2024 | The landlord replies that the statement is correct and maintains the supplementary charge | Reply e-mail | This is where the dispute arises: after the waiting period, so covered in principle |
The key point: look up in your own policy how “arisen” is defined, and set against it the date on which opposing positions were first taken. Those two determine the outcome, not the date of the underlying contract.
If there had already been extensive correspondence about the same problem before the policy was taken out, the assessment is different. A new letter or a different legal formulation does not automatically make an ongoing existing dispute new.
Connected events
Policies may treat several events as a single matter when they stem from the same cause. That can affect the start date, the excess and the cost cap. Ask what connection the insurer is assuming.
Then distinguish between the shared background and the specific subject of your new request. Are the parties, facts, loss and requested solution the same? Or does it concern independent later conduct? A targeted comparison helps to make the insurer’s position verifiable.
Also have it checked whether the policy clause is clear and applicable. A very broad interpretation of connection cannot be justified by a general label alone.
Switching insurer and adding a new module
When you switch, there may be arrangements on continuous cover or the waiver of a waiting period. Keep the old and new policies, the cancellation and the confirmation of the switch. Ask whether the relevant module continued without interruption.
An extension with, for example, employment law or housing may have its own commencement date. The fact that you had another module for longer does not automatically mean that the new area of law is insured from the original date.
If an adviser told you that you would not lose any rights by switching, ask for the advice file. Any failure in the advice is a separate question alongside the interpretation of the new policy; read mistakes by an insurance adviser.
Which documents strengthen your objection?
Collect all versions of the policy, the application form, the first messages about the problem and the refusal. Draw up a timeline with attachments and explain why, in your view, the event falls within the cover. Also include documents the insurer is using against you and respond to them factually.
Ask for a correction if your claim report has been summarised too generally. A description over the telephone such as ‘this has been going on for years’ can mean different things. Explain whether you were referring to the agreement, a general situation or the specific dispute. Do not adjust your account opportunistically; clarify it with the original documents.
Which route do you take after the refusal?
Go through the steps in this order; skipping one costs you the next step.
- Ask for a written, reasoned refusal, stating the policy provision on which the insurer relies.
- Respond on the substance with your timeline: date, event and supporting document on each line, as in the overview above.
- Go through the internal complaints procedure and ask for a final position. Without that final position you usually cannot proceed further.
- Go to Kifid (the Dutch Financial Services Complaints Tribunal) if you are a consumer and your insurer is affiliated: check the rules of the Kifid Disputes Committee for the conditions of access and the period within which you must file after the final position. Which set of rules applies depends on your filing date.
- Or go to court: the civil route is open instead of Kifid (Kifid does not deal with a complaint that is already before a court or has been decided by a court); have it assessed in advance which route suits your dispute.
- Meanwhile, keep track of the deadlines in your underlying case: the complaints procedure with the insurer does not suspend the deadlines in your dispute with the other party.
A pure coverage dispute usually runs through a reasoned complaint, not through the dispute resolution procedure on legal merits. Kifid makes that distinction in its explanation of the second opinion in legal expenses insurance.
Ask the insurer for a final position and then check whether Kifid or the courts are an appropriate next step. The underlying case may have its own deadlines in the meantime. A discussion about insurance cover does not, for example, automatically extend a deadline in dismissal or tenancy proceedings.
Taking out insurance when the conflict is already ongoing
A new legal expenses insurance policy is generally not a solution for an existing or foreseeable conflict that falls outside the terms and conditions. Check how the policy describes an event and foreseeability. A letter of demand received later does not automatically mean that the conflict only began on that date.
Draw up a timeline of the first complaints, warnings, negotiations and the start of the insurance. An old fact can sometimes later lead to a new dispute, but connection and policy definitions must be assessed. A waiting period and an exclusion for known circumstances are different provisions.
What assistance remains possible?
Ask whether an earlier insurance policy, another module or a special arrangement is relevant. Without cover, you can agree a private instruction for legal assistance. The merits and costs are then assessed separately. Also read about a second opinion and refused cover.
Frequently asked questions about existing conflicts and waiting periods
Is the date of my claim report decisive?
Not always. The policy may tie in with an earlier event or with foreseeability. The date on which you ask for help is therefore only one part of the timeline.
Can I take out insurance as soon as a conflict looms?
That does not automatically insure the looming problem. The policy may exclude existing or foreseeable disputes. Provide accurate information when applying and do not expect automatic cover for a risk that is already known.
Does a waiting period apply to every area of law?
That differs per insurance policy and module. Check the relevant terms and exceptions. There is no general waiting period that applies to all insurers.
Does the waiting period lapse if I switch?
Some policies have continuity arrangements, but this must be apparent from the terms and the confirmation. Also check whether the same module was insured without interruption.
Can I ask for a second opinion on this refusal?
You can obtain independent legal advice. That is not automatically the dispute resolution procedure paid for by the insurer. For a pure coverage question, the complaints route usually applies.
What if my former insurer may have to help?
Report the situation there as well in good time and ask for a position on cover and any run-off. Assess both policies. Prevent each insurer from simply referring you to the other without applying its own terms.
Have the timeline and policy assessed
Has your legal expenses insurer refused assistance because of an existing conflict or a waiting period? Contact Arslan Advocaten. If the question is rather about the prospects of success of a covered case, read about the dispute resolution procedure.
Legally reviewed by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Reviewed on 13 September 2026.
