Car Insurance legal protection cover

charliewr

Can anyone help me?
I paid extra to direct line for legal protection. I had an accident that was not my fault and called the police and ambulance as I was hurt. The paramedic took the photo's of the position my car was in for me. Now direct line and the solicitor assigned are making me take a 50 50 settlement and will not take the case further. I want my day in court to rpove my innocence. Can anyone help?

raskazz

charliewr wrote: »

Can anyone help me?
I paid extra to direct line for legal protection. I had an accident that was not my fault and called the police and ambulance as I was hurt. The paramedic took the photo's of the position my car was in for me. Now direct line and the solicitor assigned are making me take a 50 50 settlement and will not take the case further. I want my day in court to rpove my innocence. Can anyone help?

The decision whether to approve legal costs lies with the insurer/legal protection provider; this is in order that they do not waste resources on trivial or unwinnable cases.

So if you want to go to court, you will probably get no assistance from the legal protection if in their opinion a 50:50 settlement is the most likely outcome.

calisto

And is why legal protection isnt worth the paper its written on.

The exact same cover can be achieved for free after the event using a claims farm.

LP cover is the Brucey Bonus for Brokers who often get given it for free, or are even paid to push it, and to mark up as they wish.

I recall Kwik Fit giving it to me as a hard sell, the phone droid utterly aghast that I didnt want it, I must be deluded not to take such a cheap and important cover! (£50 IIRC!) So obviously a money spinner.

lisyloo

I have no idea whether your accident was avoidable (most are) but I would recommend getting some training in advanced driving techniques in order to learn how to anticipate and take avoiding action (even when it's entirely someone else's fault).

Avoiding accidents will save you a lot of the current hassle you are going through.

and yes I know it's not fair as it wasn't your fault but it's still best putting some effort into avoiding for the sake of avoiding injury AND hassle.

Question whether there is anything you could have done to avoid the situation.

calisto

charliewr,

If you are sure you are not at fault, give helphire a call. Worst case scenario is you pay £10 indemnity should they take your case on. You will also get a car to the same spec as your own (Aston Martin? No problem sir) rather than a rubbish 1.0 Micra or whatever the insurance co would fob you off with.

http://www.helphire.co.uk/

Insurers hate helphire as they cost them a lot more in costs. If you tell directline you are appointing helphire they may sh*t a brick and backpedal.

See? Legal Protection aint worth toilet paper, when you can appoint your own claims handler after the event for a tenner.

EmberJDIns

calisto wrote: »

And is why legal protection isnt worth the paper its written on.

The exact same cover can be achieved for free after the event using a claims farm.

LP cover is the Brucey Bonus for Brokers who often get given it for free, or are even paid to push it, and to mark up as they wish.

I recall Kwik Fit giving it to me as a hard sell, the phone droid utterly aghast that I didnt want it, I must be deluded not to take such a cheap and important cover! (£50 IIRC!) So obviously a money spinner.

We charge £10 to the client, and pay majority to the quality provider.

I'm sure there are some cheapo providers out there, but cannot see the link with Insurance Brokers, unless you are referring to banks, supermarkets and other non-insurance retailers, who do not insure or administrate policies, just add a profit-making layer without any expertise or worth?

calisto

EmberJDIns wrote: »

We charge £10 to the client, and pay majority to the quality provider.

I'm sure there are some cheapo providers out there, but cannot see the link with Insurance Brokers, unless you are referring to banks, supermarkets and other non-insurance retailers, who do not insure or administrate policies, just add a profit-making layer without any expertise or worth?

Well I presume Kwik-Fit is an insurance broker?

Their legal expenses, which I believe is also provided by the Elephant/Bell/Admiral group, by "Albany Assistance Ltd", a claims farm, which is also involved in car hire with "helphire".

Basically when you pay LP cover with the above you are just giving money away. Just call HelpHire or Albany Assistance after the event, and where there is blame there is a claim. They will push it all the way.

Of course if its not a dead cert then they won't take it on - but then neither would any insurers "Legal Expenses" cover either.

EmberJDIns

calisto wrote: »

Well I presume Kwik-Fit is an insurance broker?

Their legal expenses, which I believe is also provided by the Elephant/Bell/Admiral group, by "Albany Assistance Ltd", a claims farm, which is also involved in car hire with "helphire".

Basically when you pay LP cover with the above you are just giving money away. Just call HelpHire or Albany Assistance after the event, and where there is blame there is a claim. They will push it all the way.

Of course if its not a dead cert then they won't take it on - but then neither would any insurers "Legal Expenses" cover either.

Agent of the Insurer, as won't deal with an extensive panel of insurers to offer real choice and options like an Insurance Broker.

Some of us use a local greengrocer, baker, butcher and the milkman, as the quality is generally better, service is friendlier, and if not supported once their gone it's too late. An Insurance Broker is the same, quality, friendliness, expertise and good old fashioned values. A tradition well worth preserving.

lisyloo

I've found loads of choice over the internet.
I've recently bought my car insurance for £153 (not including £120 cashback from quidco) and my bike insurance is £89 (not including £40 cashback from quidco).

Please can you tell me what better "quality" a broker could offer me when I have everything on the internet to chose from.

Genuine question.
I'm not being sarky, I would like to know what they would offer me that I can't get for myself (very cheaply) - both insurances for about £80.

EmberJDIns

lisyloo wrote: »

I've found loads of choice over the internet.
I've recently bought my car insurance for £153 (not including £120 cashback from quidco) and my bike insurance is £89 (not including £40 cashback from quidco).

Please can you tell me what better "quality" a broker could offer me when I have everything on the internet to chose from.

Genuine question.
I'm not being sarky, I would like to know what they would offer me that I can't get for myself (very cheaply) - both insurances for about £80.

Fair question, he's my genuine felt answers:

You'd get a competitive price from an Insurance Broker, who will deal with a panel of insurers, some of which only accept business via Brokers, plus due to size of Broker accounts we often have exclusive schemes.

Generally you will find a high level of knowledge and expertise from an Insurance Brokers. I for one spent 7 years studying and taking exams and are professionally qualified. Picking up a bit of knowledge here and there from forums such as this, which may or may not be correct is one thing, but it's no substitute for genuine knowledge and experience.

You have placed policies as an individual, so represent 1 policyholder, with the clout of 1 policyholder. If placed via a Broker then the Broker will have the might of their entire account with an Insurer to sort out any issues. For example: You pay £80 per annum with Insurer X, we have £250,000 of business with Insurer X, who are they going to listen to?

If you want to bash await on a keyboard or deal with a call routing faceless callcentres that's your choice, but wouldn't you prefer the to speak to your local Broker who will know your name? We are individuals, not numbers afterall.

lisyloo

Thanks for your comments.
It has given me something to think about.

I'm not sure it's worth £160 (quidco cashback) to me though.
I don't in general have accidents.
I've only had one very strightforward claim in 20 years (which is why I'm cheap to insure) so I think I'd struggle but thanks for some polite debate (makes a change :-)