Reuters...
|
|
Debt Collection
(46,073), |
(NOTE: Each
request for service is recorded
as a specific member request,
which may include telephone
consultations, third-party
letters and other
communications. In
addition to these top five legal
services request categories, PPD
plans include a broad range of
other legal services, such as
will preparation, trial defense
benefits and IRS audit legal
services.)
In total, the requests for
service were from individual,
group and business plan members
of Pre-Paid Legal Service's
legal service plans.
The specific
breakdown of requests for
service from these members (by
percentage of total requests)
include:
|
individual
members - 78% |
"The Pre-Paid
Legal Services Top Five List is
intended to be a 'snap-shot' of
the issues that legal service
plan members are facing today,
and given the economic hardships
that so many Americans are
experiencing, it's not a pretty
picture," said Pre-Paid Legal
Services Founder and CEO Harland
C. Stonecipher.
"Fortunately, we have ongoing
relationships with a nationwide
network of superior independent
law firms that proactively
respond to our member requests
for service on a daily basis."
The top five
legal service requests are based
on the following:
Debt Collection -
includes legal assistance to
support our members against
other parties and defending
members from third-party debt
collectors.
Foreclosure/Eviction -
represents legal service to
protect members from
foreclosure/eviction and support
for members in tenant eviction.
Family Law - includes
legal services related to
divorce, child support, child
custody and child visitation.
Bankruptcy - includes
personal and business
bankruptcy.
Employment Issues -
includes termination, wrongful
termination, layoffs,
unemployment compensation,
severance agreements and
employee vs. independent
contractor issues.
The Pre-Paid Legal Services Top
Five List is based on data
collected at the
provider law firms and shared
with PPD.
This information does not
include any details regarding
specific conversations or
consultations between members
and provider attorneys.
PPD does, however, maintain a
rigorous monitoring system which
provides feedback on the
"customer service" experience of
PPD members with the provider
law firms. This is one of
the distinguishing
characteristics of the PPD's
legal service plan model.
The median tenure for provider
law firms in the PPD network is
more than 10 years.
About PPD
Pre-Paid Legal Services was one
of the first companies in the
United States organized solely
to design, underwrite and market
legal service plans. We
provide legal services to more
than 1.5 million families across
the U.S. and Canada. Plan
benefits are delivered through a
network of independent provider
law firms.
Members have direct, toll-free
access to their provider law
firm. Provider firms are
carefully selected and quality
of service is closely monitored
to maintain the high standards
of Pre-Paid Legal. The
company website is:
www.prepaidlegal.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in
this press release, other than
purely historical information,
regarding our future plans and
objectives and expected
operating results, dividends and
share repurchases and statements
of the assumptions underlying
such statements, constitute
forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section
21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. The forward-looking
statements contained herein are
based on certain assumptions
that may not be correct. They
are subject to risks and
uncertainties incident to our
business
that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those
described in the forward-looking
statements. These risks and
uncertainties are described in
the reports and statements filed
by us with the Securities and
Exchange
Commission, including (among
others) those listed in our Form
10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K,
and include the risks that our
membership persistency or
renewal rates may decline, that
we may not be able to continue
to grow our memberships and
earnings, that we are dependent
on the continued active
participation of our principal
executive officer, that pending
or future litigation may have a
material adverse effect on us if
resolved unfavorably to us, that
we may have compromises of our
information security, that
during an economic downturn in
the economy consumer purchases
of discretionary items may be
affected which could materially
harm our sales, retention rates,
profitability and financial
condition, that we could be
adversely affected by regulatory
developments, that competition
could adversely affect us, that
we are substantially dependent
on our marketing force, that our
stock price may be affected by
short sellers, that we have been
unable to increase our employee
group membership sales and that
our active premium in force is
not indicative of future revenue
as a result of changes in active
memberships from cancellations
and additional membership sales.
Please refer to pages 15 - 17 of
our 2008 Form 10-K and pages 7
and 8 of our June 30, 2009 Form
10-Q for a more complete
description of these risks. We
undertake no duty to update any
of the forward-looking
statements in this release.