ATE (After the Event) insurance is a form of litigation insurance that indemnifies the insured against the financial risk of losing a claim in proposed legal proceedings. The amount of the premium may be dependent on or proportional to the amount successfully recovered in the proceedings.

Although it may enable litigants who could not otherwise afford it to fund their litigation, it is not the same as litigation funding – which supports the cost of pursuing, rather than protecting the litigant against the risk of losing, the claim. The two products may be provided in tandem.

BTE (Before the Event) insurance indemnifies the insured against (a) the risk of a harm occurring, and/or (b) if such a harm should occur, the cost of pursuing a claim in respect of it. The premium is payable in much the same way as for other types of insurance, often by way of an addition or extension to another insurance product such as a personal household, motor or a commercial policy.