Commonly appearing as an add-on for both home and car insurance policies, it often doesn’t cost very much, but is it something you should consider? Should you ever become involved in a legal case, the fees can become quite costly. We go through some key questions to help you decide whether it’s something for you.
This may be slightly different for Legal Expenses cover taken out with car insurance. But using our own policy at coverbaloo as a benchmark, it covers you for cases relating to:
Our policy also gives you access to a 24/7 legal advice helpline at no charge, so you can discuss your legal concerns as needed, before they then advise if you might have a case and whether it would be covered under your insurance.
The insurer will usually work with a panel of lawyers, so you won’t always be able to choose your own. If they don’t appoint one for you, then you should only expect to receive the same amount they would have paid had they chosen them.
Understandably, you wouldn’t be covered for any proceedings where they don’t expect you to have a more than 50% chance of winning the case. This would be discussed with you as part of their initial discussions.
As with any type of insurance claim, you wouldn’t be covered for events that took place before you took out the policy. And with legal cover, there will also usually be a time limit within which you must report the claim – for example, within six months of the event happening.
Costs for this optional cover are usually quite low compared to the amount of cover provided. Typically, this would be in the region of £20 for the year for around £50,000 of cover. Policies are available standalone, but most people would opt to add it to their home insurance instead as this usually keeps the price even lower.
Importantly, no – this is not the same as liability cover that you will usually see within your home insurance as standard. Liability cover is where you are liable for money as damages relating to your home or events that take place at your home. These type of claims can often run to be extremely expensive, which is why cover is often around £2 million, though claims for this are rare. Legal expenses cover just that – the legal costs for pursuing or defending a claim in court. It wouldn’t cover you for any damages that the court finds you must pay as a result of the case.
As with many of the optional covers that we provide alongside our home insurance policy, the answer will depend on your circumstances and what you’re looking to protect yourself against. If you’re looking for peace of mind in knowing that you’ve covered for a comprehensive set of situations, then this may be worth exploring given the low price. However, if you’re looking to cut back the cost of your premium it may be one of the less important areas of your coverage when compared to say accidental damage or home emergency.
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