legal protection with home insurance

losgiganteskid

In an earlier life I was instrumental in negotiating on behalf of my employers for the supply of both Legal Expences cover for both motor and home, as an "add on" to the core Policy. It is very true to say the mark up from the sale of these "add ons" is very lucrative indeed, often more income is generated from the sale of LE policies than the core policy itself. I recall we were able to provide the LE cover at circa £26 where the cost to us the intermediary was zilch - infact not only did we get the cover for nothing we enjoyed kick back fees for car hire etc. Is it little wonder that certain intermediaries are very apprehensive of commission disclosure

I recall dealing with one very well know Legal Expenses insurer who was so keen to be the nominated supplier of cover under our book of business that they would offer almost anything including "back handers" and even the use of a "free" car to the negotiator of the scheme. This was particulary so on the motor product where they were happy to provide cover where the motorist was not to blame in an accident, as in this senario they were involved in dealing with the case, and incorporated replacement car hire which they then charged at inflated prices to then claim back off the guilty parties insurers.

On the subject of Household LE I am currently using the market leader (nameing no names) but frankly find their in house operation to be appalling, with myself actually having to correct mistakes made by my company and using them really for nothing more than a post office, however in this instance I am delighted I have a £20k legal cost cushion. Should just be enough to conclude the claim in my favour - and without loss of NCB to my core product.

Astaroth

Certainly motor LE is 99% pure profit because the solicitors pay an annual fee to "buy" postcodes so they get all the cases from policyholders within that post code area.

Home is less profitable because of having to provide the help line and also there is a much higher proportion of claims that fall within the small track limit and so the solicitors dont get paid a penny for the work they do.... this is obviously off set by the lucrative fast and multi track cases they get where they can claim fees from the at fault party.

I would however say that just because something is profitable doesnt mean that it isnt a good idea. Heinz Baked Beans makes a profit but Tesco Value are actually sold at a loss... despite the profit that Heinz and the stores make I personally am still happy to pay the extra

olly300

tightrs wrote:

hi guys
my home insurance is up for renewal and i have noticed i pay £20 for legal protection which covers me for many things eg accidents at work , which are covered by other options ,union subs and no win no fee.
i would be interested to know others thoughts on wether this top up is worth it ?

If you are in a union the legal protection they offer will cover you for such things as accidents at work at work, personal injury claims of any cause (including non-work related), etc so you definitely don't need legal protection with your home insurance as it's duplicate cover.