Car insurance is not merely an important part of protecting yourself financially on the road – its a legal necessity. However if youre trying to make a claim after being involved in an accident that wasnt your fault, you might come across something called uninsured losses. We take a look at exactly what that means for your cover

Uninsured losses can be described as potential financial losses, and they aren’t usually covered by a standard insurance policy. Uninsured losses generally include: injury to yourself or your passengers; loss of earnings; cost of alternative travel arrangements; or recovery of your policy excess from a third party. These are all very common costs incurred as a result of an accident, and you will understandably want to protect yourself against them.

According to the Department for Transport, around 3,500 people are killed and 40,000 are seriously injured on Britain’s roads each year. If youre involved in an accident, it could seriously affect your health or ability to work, and therefore have grave financial implications too. Standard insurance will always cover liabilities to third parties. However, if an accident isnt your fault, you will have to make a case to the other partys insurance provider in order to cover the damage incurred. If the other party does not take responsibility, this could potentially turn into a costly and lengthy legal procedure.

Some insurance providers may recommend that you take out optional additional cover, often from as little as 20, to boost your protection and cover uninsured losses. With Greenbee Legal Protection, for example, you would have up to 100,000 towards legal expenses to help recover these potential losses. Just make sure you contact your insurance provider immediately after an accident, as there may be time limits that apply.

The Government is currently investing in a road safety strategy, which is aiming for a 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by the end of 2010. We can all do our part to make Britains roads safer by driving carefully at all times. However, even if you are a safe and conscientious driver, you cannot always guarantee how other people may behave on the roads. By taking out comprehensive insurance you will give yourself great financial protection from accidents and as a result hopefully feel a little safer behind the wheel.

As the trend for high-specification mobile phones and computers continues at a rapid pace so too does the potential for electronic media misuse and abuse. This kind of fraudulent activity is becoming more commonly seen in legal cases, particularly with employment tribunals. Legal firms are beginning to employ the services of computer forensics experts more widely in documenting electronic evidence and providing litigation support, as this can be crucial in the outcome of cases.

Computer forensics can be used to track and provide evidence in cases of intellectual property theft, money laundering, hacking, moonlighting and the accessing of illegal or inappropriate websites. Digital forensics can also help to secure concrete evidence of illegal activity not usually associated with electronic devices including blackmail, drug dealings and abusive behaviour.

Regardless of whether digital forensics is being used in a criminal case or a civil matter (even as part of an E-discovery exercise), maintaining chain of custody is vital. This is the fully documented tracking of evidence for the period of time that the forensics team has possession of an electronic device. It ensures that each member of the team can be held accountable for any action that they take with the media.

The purpose of this chain is to log the movements of the data, how it has been stored and subsequently analysed. It is essential that this documentation presents an accurate description of any copying, transportation and storage that has occurred, to prevent any potential legal challenge.

It is worth pointing out the differences between e-discovery and computer forensics. E-discovery is the method of processing and manipulating electronically stored information to be used in legal cases. This can take the form of emails, word processed documents, images and any other type of file, which can be filtered, viewed, analysed and categorised effectively via this system. E-discovery using a forensically acquired data set is crucial in maintaining the integrity of any information present, while potentially recovering any deleted material that may be appropriate for the legal proceedings.

Computer forensics is a highly complex industry that requires the latest in product knowledge and technical expertise. Specialists will have years of experience in the on-site capturing of data from computers, servers and other forms of electronic media. This data is then analysed by their forensic analysis specialists, and used to track how a particular device has been used. All areas of the chain of custody documentation will be completed to the highest standard to ensure peace of mind for the client.