Heinrich Faßbender founded ARAG in Düsseldorf, Germany all those years ago and members of his family still run the global business today, across 17 countries and counting.
Our mission statement still drives everything that we do and gives us a sense that, even on those rainy days when the bus was late and we spilt our coffee all over the desk, what we’re doing at work is helping to make somebody else’s life a little bit better and a little bit fairer.
Legal protection for families and businesses isn’t the only thing that we do. In the UK ARAG also provides motor breakdown and home emergency cover, for example. At the end of the day it’s all about protecting people and helping them out when they need it most and taking care of their legal lives.
The nature of the legal problems that face people and companies around the world may have changed over the decades, but we like to think that ARAG helps to level the playing field a little, so that everyday people can look after their legal affairs without having to be afraid of the cost or intimidated by the system.
In the UK, access to justice certainly hasn’t got any easier in recent years. Legal Aid has been slashed, courts and law centres have been closed, and fees often have to be paid before you can even bring a case to court.
This is why what we do is so important. If it were not for the affordable access to legal advice and protection that our policies offer, many people and smaller businesses simply would not be able to assert their legal rights.