Is knocking off the 'Motor Legal Protection' bit a good way to save on Car Insurance?

lisyloo

With no legal aid it’d be up to you to sort out, instructing and paying out for a solicitor to pursue the other driver for your losses.

If it's a good case then you can find a "no win no fee" solicitor.
If it's not a good case then the legal cover won't necessarily take it on (and they have this written into the terms and conditions of the policy).

I agree that it's better to have it, but the above is an argument against.

The_Dangerman

It's a waste of time.

If you're fully Comp then your insurers aren't going to repair your car at a cost of say, £10,000, without making every effort to try and claim against a third party. They aren't going to think "hmmm he didn't take the £20 insurance policy out so we'll spend £10k of our money reapairing his car - that'll teach him!"

If you're TPFT, then if the case is stong enough for your legal expenses cover to take it on then it's strong enough for a No Win No Fee Solicitor to take it on. Having legal expenses cover is no guareentee that they will take the case if it;s unlikely a positive outcome can be achieved.

I have direct expierence of the latter. An unisured driver went into the back of me and I took the case to a NWNF solicitor and recieved £3000 back from the Motor Insurers Beaurau, which more than covered all my expenses including repairing the car.

It's a waste of time. Very rarely are add-ons worthwhile, and this is no exception.

woodys_wonders

The_Dangerman wrote: »

It's a waste of time.

If you're fully Comp then your insurers aren't going to repair your car at a cost of say, £10,000, without making every effort to try and claim against a third party. They aren't going to think "hmmm he didn't take the £20 insurance policy out so we'll spend £10k of our money reapairing his car - that'll teach him!"

If you're TPFT, then if the case is stong enough for your legal expenses cover to take it on then it's strong enough for a No Win No Fee Solicitor to take it on. Having legal expenses cover is no guareentee that they will take the case if it;s unlikely a positive outcome can be achieved.

I have direct expierence of the latter. An unisured driver went into the back of me and I took the case to a NWNF solicitor and recieved £3000 back from the Motor Insurers Beaurau, which more than covered all my expenses including repairing the car.

It's a waste of time. Very rarely are add-ons worthwhile, and this is no exception.

Unfortunately you have failed to point out that even if comp cover your own insurers will not recover your excess which is classed as an uninsured loss.
Legal expenses will cover the recovery of all unisured losses following a non fault accident.

The_Dangerman

I've covered the cost of my excess with the amount I've saved on motor legal expense.

The_Dangerman

And besides, your excess will only be unrecoverable IF they can't claim against the other party, so point one still stands. If they can claim against somebody - THEY WILL. If they have someone to make a claim against then it's likely your excess will be recoverable.

If they can't claim against anyone, your legal expense will be useless anyway.

cazzerp

Thanks everyone! I'm with Dangerman and have decided to save myself the £27 - better off in my pocket and the insurance is only £140 now (fully comp) thanks to following all the other tips - bargain. The amount I'll save not paying this over the years will easy cover any excess I might ever have to cough up if I ever do claim... This seems to be the main thing it covers and since when did we expect our excess back anyway for goodness sake! The other reason I think I won't bother has also been pointed out by some - I'll bet if the need ever arose it probably wouldn't cover...
:beer:

The_Dangerman

http://www.theidol.com/faq_body.cfm?type=motor

If there is an identifable person who is likely to have the means to pay and you are not at fault your excess should be fairly straightforward to recover - even if you have to go through the small claims court. That's all your legal expenses cover is doing anyway.

I thought this was a money saving forum? Self Insuring is nearly always cheaper and easier.

Trust me, if even the managers of a leading insurance company aren't including on their policies, it's a safe bet to say we shouldn't either.

The_Dangerman

That last reply was a response to LisyLoo I think, but the post I replied to has gone for some reason.

lisyloo

but the post I replied to has gone for some reason.

Sorry was not 100% sure of my facts so removed it.
You must have just caught it.

even if you have to go through the small claims court.

In general I think you are right for most people.
But for some people the costs of either time off work or child care could be more than the costs of the legal policy.
Plus I believe a defendant can have the case heard in their locality (is that right?).
So if they live on say the Isle of Mann then it's going to cost you a bit to get there.

My FIL hit a pedestrian 3 years ago.
We hope it's going to be ruled "no fault" shortly.
I know my FIL who is disabled and deaf (80 years old) would not deal well with going to court, so I'm glad they've got the legal cover as the insurer is just going to pay up themselves without any fuss.

So for some people in some situations I do believe it's useful.

For high earners the lack of hassle can mean more than the time taken off work to go to court.

I frequently pay more for things on ebay that I strictly need to, simply because the trade-off of spending 2 hours on ebay to save £1 isn't worth it for me.
So people have to value their time.

The_Dangerman

I think you raise some very valid points but I wouldn't point to the fact this is a "money saving" forum, and those who are looking for the least hassle option has probably come to the wrong place.

If it was a "hassle saving" forum, then I would agree with what you are saying.

Also, if someone is wanting the least hassle option, then it's just to pay the excess. Indeed, I think most people probably wouldn't bother digging out the policy and trying to make a claim for £100.

I should declare that I am very much of the "self insure" philiosophy. These companies rely on these add-ons for much of their profit, knowing that most people a) forget they have them, b) can't find their documents c) can't be bothered to jump through all the hoops to claim and d) will rather just go out and replace/pay for whatever it is that had supposedly insured all those months back.

(The last point is not specific to motor legal insurance)

I'm sure you can see where I am coming from on this?