Car Insurance - legal cover yes or no?

Shaanbles

I've had various quotes for car insurance and in the past I've always gone for the legal cover option.

But do I really need it? I could save myself £20 a year - not a lot I know, but if it's a waste of money...

feival

Waste of money according to my friend who is a lawyer specialising in road traffic accidents. If you are liable then your insurance company will handle the claim. If you are not then you can appoint loads of firms on a no win no fee basis.

Shaanbles

That's what I figured.

I'll now put that money towards new paint for the hall where we've just scratched it getting the sofas out!!

Astaroth

Hmm... think your friend really hasnt told you the full story.

Conditional funding (aka no win no fee) can only be used when there is an injury claim. If there is no injury then a solicitor cannot claim costs (unless it goes to court) and so would not be interested in trying to get back your £200 excess and £1000 hire car charges.

Secondly, at the moment solicitors cannot claim costs for cases under £1000 of injury - basically at the moment this isnt much of an issue as there arent many cases under this (but again no win no fee wouldnt take on a case below this as they would never get paid). This limit will be raised in the near future though with the anticipated new limit being between £2500 and £5000 which would mean that for 80% of injury claims you could not use no win no fee.

Thirdly - no win no fee is not always free - no win no fee means you dont pay your solicitor for anything but if you go to court and lose the other parties solicitor has to be paid. Most "no win no fee" solicitors sell you what is known as After The Incident insurance to protect you against these costs. Whilst many say they "wont take any of your winnings etc" if you read the small print they do state that there are "potentially" cost implications.

At the end of the day it is up to you if you want to take it not. I personally dont as I worked in the claims industry for many years and so I am perfectly comfortable representing myself and trying to claim back my uninsured loses. However when the limits go up then even I will be buying it (though the price for it will sky rocket too I would anticipate)

feival

That is a fair comment about the limites changing but as you say they haven't yet so maybe its one for next year.

impy78

I would, as there are things that will not be covered under any insurance policy, or by going to an ambulance chaser.

For instance: things like ambulance fees, contacting relatives or anyone you request to advise them you have been in an accident, your excess on your policy (yes, you can get that back from the third party, but you would have to that yourself, as the insurance company will not do this unless you have legal protection), compensation for things like tickets to events that you have missed due to the accident, cost of ongoing medical expenses into the future, etc etc.


For £20 I'd say it was a good deal.

Astaroth

feival wrote:

That is a fair comment about the limites changing but as you say they haven't yet so maybe its one for next year.

The no win no fee not being available for mid to low value injury claims was only one part.

The other major part is having to claim back uninsured losses (like your excess, hire car charges, loss of earnings etc) when there is no injury. I say that this isnt a problem for me as I used to do this day in day out but for other people the idea of knowing how to argue about quantum and if losses were mitigated correctly etc may be outside of their comfort zone.

Shaanbles

Thanks for the comments everyone.

With my current insurer I have legal cover and they have supposedly been fighting for me to get my excess back after an accident - 6mths later not a peep. Also they won't cover my physio appoitments as they have put it down to a previous injury. Hence why I thought it wasn't worth having.

As for hire car - that's included in my quote so don't need legal cover for it.

gazza975526570

Astaroth wrote:

The no win no fee not being available for mid to low value injury claims was only one part.

The other major part is having to claim back uninsured losses (like your excess, hire car charges, loss of earnings etc) when there is no injury. I say that this isnt a problem for me as I used to do this day in day out but for other people the idea of knowing how to argue about quantum and if losses were mitigated correctly etc may be outside of their comfort zone.

to be fair reclaiming UIL is a relatively simple process and anyone that can put together a simple list and letter should be able to do this themselves and probably quicker than the handler/company who would have dealt with it

Shaanbles

If I change my insurer when my renewal is hope at the end of the month, will the old insurer's legal department still continue to try and reclaim my losses?

Astaroth

For any incidents which occured prior to the termination of the policy then the cover will be there even if you decide to switch insurers.