Text Wizard Copywriting - insurance claim report writing

Background

£225,000 legal expenses insurance claim acknowledged.

When a dissatisfied band of franchisees fell into dispute with their franchisor, they sought to recover their legal expenses through their insurance policy. The franchisees had to convince the insurers that the dispute was one which they had a good chance of winning if it were to go to Court.

The franchisees’ solicitors (a leading national firm) told the franchisees that they would have to collate all the available evidence, written and verbal, in a format that could be submitted to a barrister for an independent opinion. The franchisees turned to the Text Wizard for help.

The Text Wizard pored over several hundred pieces of evidence covering a fifteen-year period. From these papers he constructed a rigorously-documented report which showed that the matters under dispute did indeed fall within the terms of the franchise agreements.

On the basis of this report, a QC was able to make a positive recommendation. "I have come to the view that there is a reasonable prospect of the Court resolving this argument in favour of franchisees…" he said.

"A diamond effort" was how one of the franchisees’ solicitors described the Text Wizard’s report.

"Works of art" was how a partner at the franchisees' solicitors described the Text Wizard's analysis of contractual issues.

A brief extract from the Text Wizard’s eight-page report follows. Names have been obscured to maintain confidentiality.

This is dry stuff indeed, but it delivered the goods.

plenty of soap, but no flannel in the Text Wizard's report

C	Formal Acknowledgement by [franchisor] of Off-premises Sales
6	Franchise Operations Manual
6.1	The 1992 Franchise Operations Manual (C1: p10) devotes a sub-section to "Off Premises Trading". It’s very brief: "Trading must be restricted to the area specified by the Franchise Agreement. Ventures outside this area by physical selling or mail order are not permitted."
6.2	Despite its brevity, it is an accurate description of what was happening. The range and nature of events that franchisees undertook in pursuit of sales and PR were huge. No guidelines were ever issued on how to do off-premises trading other than the simple requirement to keep within the franchise territory. In practice it was almost ‘anything goes’ both inside and outside the territory (see Section D below).
7	Correspondence and Minutes
7.1	The minutes of a meeting about [franchisor's new scheme] (C2: p2) held in April 1995 between [franchisor] and representatives of the franchisees show how [franchisor's] proposed legal document did not take account of the existing situation. The franchisees wanted the documentation amended "to reflect the fact that Franchisees already sell through talks." [franchisor's employee] was detailed to make appropriate adjustments.
7.2	Following that meeting, [franchisor's employee] presented an Attendance Note (C3: p2) in which he acknowledges "The Company has accepted products may be sold away from the shop by Franchisees when undertaking promotional/campaigning activities…" He then attempts to differentiate this type of selling from that covered by [franchisor's new scheme] because it is "aimed at generating additional sales for the shop on a regular day to day basis." Since [franchisor's new scheme] is qualitatively very similar to talks and demonstrations (see Sub-sections 11 and 12 below), [franchisor's employee's] argument for differentiation relies entirely on the frequency of the activity.
7.3	In a 1996 letter from [franchisor's employee] to all the [disputing] franchisees, he explains (C4: p2) why their agreements "granted a wider territory than is now usual on the basis that the territory would be developed and the Franchisee would open shops within that territory…" It’s hard to see how a territory can be ‘developed’ other than through the type of off-premises trading that franchisees have habitually undertaken.
7.4	And in 1997, [franchisor's employee] acknowledged (C5: p3) that "the Method has changed from time to time over the years" and that "With the encouragement of [franchisor], Franchisees have given talks to schools and other groups". By now, however, he’s well aware of the legal ramifications and carefully avoids mentioning sales.
7.5	A 1995 letter from [franchisor's employee] (C6: p2, p5) gives a truer picture. She explains an all-day ‘[franchisor's new scheme] party’ on the basis that occasionally franchisees "have asked consultants to cover some events taking place outside the shop" rather than spare shop staff. If there had been no [franchisor's new scheme] consultant, the shop staff would have done the event themselves and, in [franchisor's] view, that would have been perfectly acceptable.