Motor Legal Cover

BlueSprint

I cannot believe that the subject of Motor Legal Protection Cover is not more prevalent on MSE. Either that or I have not found threads whilst searching.. Hopefully this will start some good debate.

I have just renewed a motorcycle policy for £128 for the year. I had a option of Legal Cover for an additional £28 per year. I also have a car insurance policy which costs £196 per year, again legal cover on that is £24 and similarly with my wifes car.

If I paid them all, I would be paying £76 to try and recover my losses should an accident occur!

My wife has just recenty been involved in a non fault (car drove into the back of here when she was stationary at traffic lights). She received minor whiplash injuries.

The legal cover on the policy resulted in a lawfirm taking on the personal injury claim and recovering costs, and to be fair was worth the £24 legal cover we paid.

But, reading elsewhere on the internet, it seems insurance companies may be selling claims to solicitor so they can make money and claim from the other party in dealing with the claim. I suspect that is what happened in our case, especially as personal injury was involved.

So the questions I pose are
1) Is there any good reason to pay the legal protection premium each year, or should I just use a lawyersforu website on no win / no fee basis or local solicitor?

2) Are there any alternatives to paying £28 to three different insurers. Could I go direct to an independant legal cover company if there is such a thing and pay legal cover for me/ family should I need such services?

As I said, I am surprised this matter is not part of the motoring section on MSE. Has no one else considered this issue?

Quentin

Do a search in the insurance forum to find lots of discussion on this topic.

Savvy moneysavers are able to cut out the middleman and find pi lawyers who will pay them a hefty commission for instructing them direct (instead of having to pay insurance companies for leads).

thenudeone

A stand-alone scheme was mention here a few days ago (can't find the thread).

CSMA membership for £15 pa includes cover for member + spouse for motor legal protection. much cheaper than even one single cover with one insurer.

Flyboy152

But these days, legal insurance covers more than just uninsured losses.

DIYPhil

Motor Legal Protection Cover is legal expenses insurance (LEI). It covers you for any adverse costs (that is the Defendant's costs) and any unrecovered disbursements incurred by your Solicitor on your behalf, should your claim fail (subject to the policy terms and up to a limit which is usually £25,000 or £50,000 in motor policies).

To answer your questions:

1. If you don't have LEI, any Solicitor you instruct (whether sourced through the internet or locally) would probably pursue your personal injury claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement (no win no fee). In such a case it is appropriate to also take out after the event insurance (AEI), which provides the same cover as LEI, although the indemnity limit is usually £100,000 on most policies. It is usually possible to take out a AEI policy that has a deferred premium, so that you wouldn't have to pay this, which is useful as the premiums are significantly higher than the £28 and £24 you mention. Overall, the outcome of an AEI policy against an LEI policy is often the same, that is, no cost to you either at the start, during or at the end of your case. But this can't be guaranteed, which makes the modest cost of the LEI policy, in my view, a worthwhile purchase.

2. Even though your legal expense insurer will direct you to one of their panel firms of Solicitors, as they did in your wife's case, this does not preclude you from instructing a Solicitor of your choice, whether sourced through the internet or locally, who would be able to use the LEI.

3. Whether you should agree to the law firm recommended by your LEI, source a law firm through the internet, or instruct a local firm depends on several factors; the issues in the case, the potential value, whether the particular law firm has Solicitors / fee earners who specialise in a) the type of work i.e. motor car, motorcycle or cycle accidents and b) the injuries suffered i.e. brain injury, and how much you value having a local law firm against probably having a law firm some distance away (which will probably be the case if you accept the LEI's recommended law firm).


4. As for other types of legal cover, this seems to be offered as an optional extra in most buildings and contents insurance policies.

forgotmyname

If your the innocent party then i guess you could call any of the no win no fee type claim management
companies to do the work for you. Mostly what the insurance do these days anyway.

So you pay your insurance £24, Who will sell your details onto a claim management company and make even
more money.

DIYPhil

So you pay your insurance £24, Who will sell your details onto a claim management company and make even
more money.[/QUOTE]

As far as I'm aware, that doesn't happen. If you claim through a Legal Expense Insurer, the LEI will refer the case to one of their panel law firms (not a claims management company) with the law firm almost certainly paying a referral fee to the LEI.

daveyjp

If you are a union member this is often one of the services your union subs pay for.

Rolandtheroadie

Didnt have legal cover and my motorbike was written off.

Absolutely no problem whatsoever.

I refused a hire bike as I had a car, got more than the bike cost me and an additional payment for loss of use.

The insurer the claim was against even called to offer their assistance.

So I'd say no, it's not required.