Car insurance - Should I have bought the Motor Legal Protection?

frustin · 27 November 2009 at 5:43PM

They wanted another £20 for the legal protection.

andyd · 27 November 2009 at 11:14PM

As a personal injury lawyer I'd advise that you don't need it. If an accident is not your fault then most solicitors will take your case on a no win - no fee basis so it won't cost you anything anyway.

If the accident is likely to have been your fault then your ins company won't cover the solicitors fees if they feel the claim doesn't have reasonable prospects of success so you woldn't be able to use the legal protection policy in that situation.

A further drawback is that normally your insurer chooses a solicitor for you and you don't have a choice in the matter and if the solic turns out to be substandard its a pain to move to another solicitor that you actually want to use.

gakers · 28 November 2009 at 1:08AM

Hello

If anyone reads this I would very much appreciate some advice. In September I had a car accident whereby another car went into the back of me, I was stationary waiting in a queue of traffic, the guy driving the other car admitted liability there and then and gave me his details.

There were loads of witness but I couldn't get any details as it was not safe to do so it was the middle of rush our (5.20pm) and where we had pulled over both our cars were already causing an obstrusction to the road with all the traffic trying to squeeze round us. I was keen to get my car away from there before another accident happened.

I have fully comp insurance and filled in all the forms required by my insurerer and thier nominated PI solicitors as once I drove away from the accident scene I felt a twinge down my neck and left shoulder and my neck and back became more painful over the evening and following days. I phoned my doctor the day after and he diagnosed a whiplash injury and referred me to physio.

I have been waiting for the claims process to go through but today had a call from the PI solicitor saying that the other party is now disputing the claim and as its his word against mine they are not prepared to continuing acting on the claim for me. Where does this leave me? I have missed a lot of work as my injuries have been really bad and I have spent alot of money that I haven't really been able to afford on much needed physio as the solictors told me I would get this back.

The solicitors said that I could go to anotehr law firm such as a no win no fee firm but I don;t know who to approach or how to go about it.

I am devestated I have been unable to work and am absolutely exhaused from lack of sleep due to the discomfort in my neck and back. My whole life has been turned upside down and nothing is going to be done about it as the other party is lying and getting away with it.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate your advice.

:(

Oscar_The_Grouch · 28 November 2009 at 9:42AM

Hi there

You need to start a new thread of your own - you'll get better responses.

Go back on to the main page of the insurance forum and in the top left corner you'll see the button to start a new post. Click that, put in the title of "Help with injury claim" or something similar and then paste in your bit above.

As for my opinion, I don't rate your legal expert if they can't win a "hit in rear" case for you and you'd be better off using someone else as they suggest.

Quentin · 28 November 2009 at 9:49AM

gakers wrote: »

The solicitors said that I could go to anotehr law firm such as a no win no fee firm but I don;t know who to approach or how to go about it.

Google for motor injury solicitors. You will be able to discuss your case with a firm, who will advise on whether or not you have a case they are prepared to take on.

guardianangel · 29 November 2009 at 4:47PM

frustin wrote: »

They wanted another £20 for the legal protection.

I will always buy it, I was in the same situation as the person above, I was sat stationery at the lights and a guy drove into the bck of my at 40mph. He admitted liability there and then and then when the claim was put through, he said it was my fault -that I pulled out, even though the dent was blantantly in the centre of the boot.

Anyway, long story short, it took over a year for it all to be resolved, at one point it almost went to court, but as I paid for legal, everything was sorted. All I had to do was write my witness statement. I got all the monies back plus compensation for the injury.

Astaroth · 29 November 2009 at 5:19PM

andyd wrote: »

If an accident is not your fault then most solicitors will take your case on a no win - no fee basis so it won't cost you anything anyway

So if I just need to claim my excess and a £500 PI claim you will do that on no win no fee will you?? :rotfl:

Conditional funding (aka no win no fee) is there to protect those that dont have other avenues but is only typically available when the amount of monies to be claimed are sufficient that the solicitor can also claim fees.

If you only have a minor claim then it will be a small track claim in which case the solicitor will not be paid by the other party and guess what? Whilst they profess to be better at fighting your corner than legal expenses funded solicitors they suddenly lose their moral higher ground when there is no money in it for them where as legal expenses will cover you for these smaller claims.

Ultimately it is a convenience product. For big claims you will find solicitors falling over themselves to work for you for free where as if you have a small claim they will straight refused to help. It is also arguably easier to make 1 phone call to your insurers and to know a suitably qualified and experienced person will handle it for you rather than going to an ambulance chaser who then is selling you to the highest bidder or a local solictor who may have done 1 term of law of torts at university and only one or two cases since then..... some of the best at dealing with personal injury claims do not have a qualification to their name but 20 years of hands on experience of dealing with hundreds of cases every year.

dacouch · 29 November 2009 at 5:47PM

Astaroth if everyone took your advice there would be no advertisers during Trisha and Jeremy Kyle, that could mean the end of those programs...

Astaroth · 29 November 2009 at 7:57PM

lol, I can proudly say I have never seen either of them in my life.... but did see a Best of in HMV so may have to add it to my Xmas list

andyd · 29 November 2009 at 8:35PM

It is also arguably easier to make 1 phone call to your insurers and to know a suitably qualified and experienced person will handle it for you rather than going to an ambulance chaser who then is selling you to the highest bidder or a local solictor who may have done 1 term of law of torts at university and only one or two cases since then..... some of the best at dealing with personal injury claims do not have a qualification to their name but 20 years of hands on experience of dealing with hundreds of cases every year.

Why do you assume that the solicitor your insurer appoints for you is "suitably qualified and experienced"?

Many law firms that are on insurer panels actually buy their cases from the insurer for several hundred pounds each and thus tend to employ cheap inexperienced fee earners to do straightforward RTA claims to keep their overheads down.

The best option (as with most professions) is to use a solicitor that a friend/family member has used and recommends to you rather than someone you are forced to use by your insurer.

saynonto0871 · 31 December 2009 at 10:23AM

If you are already a CSMA member (£15 per year) you automatically get LV legal cover up to £100,000.

Car insurance - Should I have bought the Motor Legal Protection?

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