Legal Cover

jcumpsty

hi.

February is my "insurance month"

House Insurance
Car Insurance (2 cars)
Bike Insurance (2 bike)

plus ...road side assistance cover (autoaid).

While renewing my policies, I noticed that every policy includes a fee for "legal cover" in the even of an accident.

My question is, do I need legal cover on each of my 5 policies? or just on 1? If I have legal cover on my House Policy (for example) would it cover me for legal cover in case of an accident in my car?

lisyloo

House policies do not usually cover accidents whilst the driver or the passenger of a motor vehicle, but for a definite answer you need to read your policy or call the insurer.
All the ones I've ever had, exclude motor vehicle accidents (but only as driver or passenger, so pedestrian or cyclist is ok).

SolicitorMidlands

legal cover for motor insurance is a waste of time. they charge you and if you have an accident, they pass on your details to a solicitor for a fee (up to 800 pounds) and don't tell you or give you any of the benefit.

if you have an accident you would get a solicitor to deal with it under a no win no fee agreement.

unless its free, i wouldn't bother with it. if you do ever have an accident, tell your insurers you are getting your own solicitor so they don't make money off your misfortune.

however, it is very good to have on your home insurance.

haggle_2

Try getting the legal cover included. If it was a really bad crash and your insurance provider went bankrupt (could it happen?) then legal cover would be of massive help.

dacouch

Solicitormidland is sort of right, if you had injuries or need a hire car you could go to one of the "No win no fee companies" and they would take you on. However if you were not injured and did not need a hire car the "No win no fee" companies are not interested. This would mean you would have to deal with claiming your excess back and any out of pocket expenses such as loss of earnings etc. Or if you only have Third Party Fire and Theft Cover and want your car repaired.

So please bear this in mind when reading his advice, I'm shocked that he has given you the advice he has without explaining the above...

So Legal Expenses can be worth having if you have an accident and there are no injuries or you need a hire car.

missile

I used to think legal cover was a complete waste of money. However I recently had cause to use it and the solicitor has been quite helpful. It is a difficult case to prove liability but nevertheless she has been very dilligent on my behalf.

I doubt the ambulance chasers would entertain this case. In my experience they are only interested in sure fire easy winers and very keen to settle at the first offer.

jcumpsty

dacouch wrote: »

So Legal Expenses can be worth having if you have an accident and there are no injuries or you need a hire car.

I never suggested that I thought legal expenses was NOT worth having, or that I was going to choose not to have the cover. I think it is a necessary cover in many respects.

However, I am trying to ascertain if I need it on EVERY insurance policy that I hold.

for example, I have...
car 1: policy in my name, legal cover £21.99.
car 2: policy in wifes name, legal cover £21.99.
house: legal cover £19.00
bike 1: my name, £12.00
bike 2: my name, £12.00

so that is £87 per year in legal insurance.

the real question is; is legal cover tied to a particular policy/vehicle? or are they portable?

dacouch

Sorry jcumpsty my comment solicitormidland who told you Legal Cover is not worth taking unless it is free. I do not belive his advice was accurate and at the very least he should have pointed out what the Legal Cover does cover.

I personally would recommend you take legal cover out on each policy if money was no object. The companies you are with are charging you top dollar for it (Apart from the motorbike policies) They only pay about £1.50 for each motor legal policy and £3.00 for the home legal policy

There is no easy answer to your question as you rightly state the amount you are paying is a lot in total. Legal Cover is one of those policies that if you ever need to use it (See missiles post) it is absolutely invaluable if you do not use it then you have just bought peace of mind.

How about you shop around on your policies and with the saving you make they will hopefully pay the cost of the legalm policies. Or alternatively ring the Insurers up and advise them you have had a cheaper quote, ask for them to match the price and give you free legal cover.

Quentin

dacouch wrote: »

..............This would mean you would have to deal with claiming your excess back and any out of pocket expenses such as loss of earnings etc. Or if you only have Third Party Fire and Theft Cover and want your car repaired.

You can only claim these expenses from the third party if they are to blame.

If they are, then you don't have to do it yourself if you have no legal insurance, or aren't wanting a hire car or have any injury. You can use your own solicitor to do it, and their fees will be paid by the third party/their insurance.

SolicitorMidlands

Quentin wrote: »

You can only claim these expenses from the third party if they are to blame.

If they are, then you don't have to do it yourself if you have no legal insurance, or aren't wanting a hire car or have any injury. You can use your own solicitor to do it, and their fees will be paid by the third party/their insurance.

Legal cover won't help you with a courtesy car. You have that added on as another part of your policy.

Legal cover will not usually cover small claims matters. If it does, the costs are normally limited to the sum of money you are trying to recover so no one would touch the case.

I am surprised you didn't advise of that before criticising me.

Oscar_The_Grouch

SolicitorMidlands wrote: »

I am surprised you didn't advise of that before criticising me.

Errm... Quentin didn't criticise you.

Getting back to OP's original question, the best thing you could probably do is look to combining all your motor policies in to one "mini fleet" insurance. There are several companies that offer such a cover and that would give you one motor insurance to cover everything as well as one legal expenses cover for all your vehicles.

Speak to an insurance broker and they should be able to help you. With 4 vehicles, you are on the cusp of acceptance by some of the mini fleet policies. It could even save you money - you never know!!

As to the point about hire cars that everyone is going on about, if you are involved in a non-fault accident and are not injured, there are 2 choices:

1. accept the courtesy car provided by the approved repairer (if there is one)
2. speak to one of the "credit hire" companies.

Personally, I hate credit hire - they charge the insurance company a massive amount per day for even a basic car. We must all live in the modern world, however, so I have to accept that such things exist.

Credit hire is where you sign a credit agreement and the company gives you a car the same as the one you have had damaged (or as near as possible) until yours has been repaired. They do not charge you for the vehicle, but they charge the third party insurers.

If you are involved in an accident that is your fault, you don't need legal cover. Your motor insurance covers you for your liability to others and this would include providing you with a solicitor to defend your position if appropriate. The same is true for household insurance, where they provide you with a solicitor if your postman tries to sue you for slipping over on some ice in your driveway.