Legal Expenses Insurance: question

Blue_Parrot

Earlier this year we engaged a legal firm to represent us in a Personal Accident claim. We have a Legal Expenses clause in our household insurance policy (for which I pay an extra premium). The legal firm took on our case on a CFA (no win, no fee) basis.

Some months later, our insurers have told us that we cannot use the legal firm; we must use their own legal advisers who will take over all the paperwork. The legal firm have just emailed me to say that since the insurance company will not indemnify them, they can no longer handle this case.

It seems to me that if we hand it over to our own insurers, it would be like hiring a defence lawyer on our prosecution side. It seems to me that the insurance company lawyers would not be working for us, but for the Insurance Company. What are insurance companies bound to do? NOT pay out.

The Legal Fees clause is for £100,000. I am guessing that they'd run up a £100,000 bill in paperwork and then stop.

We would also have to reiterate everything so far - months of phone calls, emails and letters, dozens of pages of photocopying. We'd have to start all over again, this time with different lawyers whom I instinctively think would not be acting in our best interests but theirs.

FWIW, the damages are "worth" anywhere from £30,000 to £100,000, so severe were the Personal Injuries.

Helpful comments welcomed. Thanks.

glentoran99

Who are you claiming against? your insurance or someone elses?

Blue_Parrot

We are/were claiming against the person who caused the Personal Injuries and hence, presumably, their insurers.

I do not want to go into detail wrt the claim since this is a public forum.

stator

You could go into a little more detail though

glentoran99

Blue_Parrot wrote: »

We are/were claiming against the person who caused the Personal Injuries and hence, presumably, their insurers.

I do not want to go into detail wrt the claim since this is a public forum.

Then your Insurer will fight your case, not act as "defence" in a prosecution and no they wont run up £100,000 legal fees and then stop, wouldn't get near that total

magpiecottage

If you are claiming against somebody else, then that is a dispute between you and them. The fact that each of you is using an insurance company to fund your side of the case is irrelevant.

TSx

Financial Ombudsman information is here

Lots about the right to choose your own solicitor (or the lack of it)