Pay extra for legal cover?

gropinginthedark

Is it worth it? I paid. I had an RTA, the other party 100% at fault & prosecuted. My insurer's legal cover amounted to passing my claim to a firm of PI (Personal Injury) solicitors. They proved to be the world's worst but it took a while for me to find that out. The claim was going nowhere. No progress reports, no replies to phone or email. 
I looked them up at reviewsolicitors.co.uk almost all reviews are "awful".  I complained to the insurers who had sold me legal cover, their response was "we'll pass your complaint to the solicitors" (ineffective). After 2 years without even an initial medical assessment I lost patience. My passengers didn't. One, with the same injuries as me but a bit worse, accepted what I considered a small payout, the other is still waiting (nearly 4 years).
I got a "no win, no fee" solicitor to take over. Fast, efficient, responded to phone or email same day, often within minutes. Even after their fee my payout was 3x what passenger #1 got. Passenger #2 (the worst injuries of all 3) has been advised that the compensation being sought is 2x what passenger #1 got.

So is legal cover worth paying extra for? I'm guessing my insurer would get a kick-back for referrals to the rubbish solicitors.
Should you find yourself in a similar position don't trust the insurer's choice, check the PI solictor's reviews and at least check out other options. Also I kept a diary with photos because after 2 years its easy to forget details. I gave that to the medical expert, he said "you've done my work for me!" 

MyRealNameToo

gropinginthedark said:

Is it worth it? I paid. I had an RTA, the other party 100% at fault & prosecuted. My insurer's legal cover amounted to passing my claim to a firm of PI (Personal Injury) solicitors. They proved to be the world's worst but it took a while for me to find that out. The claim was going nowhere. No progress reports, no replies to phone or email. 
I looked them up at reviewsolicitors.co.uk almost all reviews are "awful".  I complained to the insurers who had sold me legal cover, their response was "we'll pass your complaint to the solicitors" (ineffective). After 2 years without even an initial medical assessment I lost patience. My passengers didn't. One, with the same injuries as me but a bit worse, accepted what I considered a small payout, the other is still waiting (nearly 4 years).
I got a "no win, no fee" solicitor to take over. Fast, efficient, responded to phone or email same day, often within minutes. Even after their fee my payout was 3x what passenger #1 got. Passenger #2 (the worst injuries of all 3) has been advised that the compensation being sought is 2x what passenger #1 got.

So is legal cover worth paying extra for? I'm guessing my insurer would get a kick-back for referrals to the rubbish solicitors.
Should you find yourself in a similar position don't trust the insurer's choice, check the PI solictor's reviews and at least check out other options. Also I kept a diary with photos because after 2 years it's easy to forget details. I gave that to the medical expert, he said "you've done my work for me!" 

Before the whiplash reforms which moved basic soft tissue claims from Fast Track to Small Track and thus removed solicitors costs from being claimable LE was a gravy train on Motor. 

Certainly the firm I worked for auctioned off postcode sectors to the large solicitor firms that can deal with the thousands of cases a year that are generated. They would take the work that generates no revenue for free but keep all the fees generated off the lucrative cases. There were only exceptional cases where we may actually pay them anything if they lost a case. At the time a per case referral fee wasnt allowed so their bids were based on the anticipated volume of cases which obviously was rarely exactly accurate. 

Effectively we could have given the LE cover away for free and still make a profit. 

Life has changed now though with the majority of claims now not being eligible for fees as long as claims are responded to in timely manner to keep it via the portal system. I've not worked in the LE insurance world since then so can't say how the economics work now. 

Even when you are in the Fast track the lawyers fees are fixed based on the damages. Them putting an extra 10 hours work in to get you a £1k increase in award just economically doesnt stack up unless they have a shortage of cases. Its like estate agents and others working on commission technical there is something in it for them but they are better off making two sales at an average price then putting in a lot of effort to get one sale at an above average price. 

There are many factors that impact what an award will be, often they are done on a global basis so you can't differentiate between the general damages for PSLA (ie the injury itself) and specific damages for loss of earnings, loss of use etc. The reality is that a FTSE 100 CEO who has to take a month off for a minor injury will get more monies than a NMW shop worker who has more significant injuries and has to take 3 months off work (both unpaid) as the CEOs salary will be over 20x that of the shop worker so the LoE claim dwarf that of the shop assistant by such an extent. 

Lots of other more unusual factors play too like which court a case is likely to be assigned to, it's well known that some are more generous than others. There's the type of injury too, male facial scaring receives less than female, whiplash in certain circumstances are a fixed tariff that are probably 10-20% what court settlements were for the same injury but if you can avoid the tariffs courts have not reduced their awards to align anything close to the tariffs. 

mgfvvc

I am dubious of the value, but it may prove useful. certainly don't pay insurer's rates. I have the RAC cover which covers the whole family (I must remember to add my younger daughter) for £15.

Bigphil1474

Check what the legal cover actually covers. You might also have legal cover on your home insurance, and I get it with my union membership. Some are limited to legal cover related to the product, some provide a broader legal cover. My union legal cover covers anything legal for me and my family. 

MyRealNameToo

mgfvvc said:

I am dubious of the value, but it may prove useful. certainly don't pay insurer's rates. I have the RAC cover which covers the whole family (I must remember to add my younger daughter) for £15.

If you want insurance then insurers rates have to be paid. 

There have been some "assistance plans" that are free but their terms were much weaker, would be ok for a major injury case but they arent going to be assisting you to just get your excess back. 

One which can give good protection is Unions, though it pains me to say it. 

Home insurance and Motor insurance are mutually exclusive, they explicitly exclude each others coverages. The economics of Home Legal Expenses is very different too as you get the advice line and there are many more small track type cases where fees cannot be recovered. 

chrisw

It's another of those insurances that is a waste of money until you need it, I've never bothered with it and in 40 years of motoring I've never needed it. However, an incident could arise tomorrow where I'd be kicking myself for not taking it out, but even then, i take the view that I could get my own legal advice if necessary.

mgfvvc

MyRealNameToo said:

mgfvvc said:

I am dubious of the value, but it may prove useful. certainly don't pay insurer's rates. I have the RAC cover which covers the whole family (I must remember to add my younger daughter) for £15.

If you want insurance then insurers rates have to be paid. 

Maybe my phrasing was poor. I don't pay the bundled rates. The RAC policy covers uninsured loss recovery, defending an alleged motoring offence in court and consumer disputes relating to motor vehicles. 

Bigphil1474

MyRealNameToo said:

mgfvvc said:

I am dubious of the value, but it may prove useful. certainly don't pay insurer's rates. I have the RAC cover which covers the whole family (I must remember to add my younger daughter) for £15.

If you want insurance then insurers rates have to be paid. 

There have been some "assistance plans" that are free but their terms were much weaker, would be ok for a major injury case but they arent going to be assisting you to just get your excess back. 

One which can give good protection is Unions, though it pains me to say it. 

Home insurance and Motor insurance are mutually exclusive, they explicitly exclude each others coverages. The economics of Home Legal Expenses is very different too as you get the advice line and there are many more small track type cases where fees cannot be recovered. 

Not sure why it pains you to say it? Anyone working in a unionised workplace without being in a union is ill informed IME.

MyRealNameToo

Bigphil1474 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

mgfvvc said:

I am dubious of the value, but it may prove useful. certainly don't pay insurer's rates. I have the RAC cover which covers the whole family (I must remember to add my younger daughter) for £15.

If you want insurance then insurers rates have to be paid. 

There have been some "assistance plans" that are free but their terms were much weaker, would be ok for a major injury case but they arent going to be assisting you to just get your excess back. 

One which can give good protection is Unions, though it pains me to say it. 

Home insurance and Motor insurance are mutually exclusive, they explicitly exclude each others coverages. The economics of Home Legal Expenses is very different too as you get the advice line and there are many more small track type cases where fees cannot be recovered. 

Not sure why it pains you to say it? Anyone working in a unionised workplace without being in a union is ill informed IME.

My first job was the only significantly unionised place I've worked. Our group had 7 call centres, in 6 of them you got 1.5x for Saturday irrespective if shift or overtime, 2x for Sunday irrespective if shift or overtime and 3x for bank holiday pay. They also got 1.5x for working past 8pm

In our call centre there was no uplift for weekend working if it was your shift, no uplift for Saturday overtime, Sunday overtime was 1.5x and bank holiday was 2x. Our place closed at 8pm most the time but occasionally would stay open late at no additional pay. As a student at the time most my shifts were weekend and as a senior it was painful having to takeover calls from an agent in another call centre being paid significantly more than you. 

Why was ours paid less? Ours was the first to unionise and this is what the union had negotiated in exchange for some extra time with their members and being given some extra facilities in their exclusive control. Needless to say most the founding union members were the long term full time staff who did mon-fri rather than the temps, students, more recent staff who did the unsocial hours now at lower pay than their peers

gropinginthedark

MyRealNameToo mentioned the loss of earnings. That was an issue that pigged me off.  As a pensioner there is no loss of earnings so the several weeks of inability to perform the normal level of activities of daily living count for nothing, not even stautory living wage - we are considered worthless!. In reality as one ages and "the end-point" looms ever closer the value of your limited remaining time increases.  

sheramber

My car was hit by an hgv  whose driver  tried to squeeze into a gap in front of my parked car and misjudged the length of his vehicle. 

The firm he worked for refused to notify their insurance company who then. denied any liability. 

My legal cover covered my excess, the cost of hire car  and the cost of the repairs. 

They took the firm to court and gained a warrant  for payment. 

That was the last I heard from them.