Legal cover rip-off or essential add on?

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Sun 16 Sep 2007 11:41
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - jlo
Hi All,

Insurance companies often want £20 to £30 add on for legal cover. Is it really worth it.

My thoughts are:

In the terms and conditions in most policies if they don't think they are NOT going to suceed then they won't give cover

I am also a biker and am told that if personel injury is involved you are best seeing a specialist Bike accident solicitor who have greater expertise.

There are companies like helphire who if you are hit by third pary will organise the repair and give you a hire car direct from third party. ( I would be happy to use for a simple third party accident)

And If I am serious accidenct with injury there are 100s of no win no fee (and I mean truly not win no fee so no conditional fees etc) who will take on my case.

So I am inclinded to say no to the add on legal cover at my renewal.

Am I being sensible or foolish.

Opinions greatfully received.

Thanks

Jlo
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Sun 16 Sep 2007 12:39
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - Falkirk Bairn
>>Insurance companies often want £20 to £30 add on for legal cover. Is it really >>worth it.

Shell Mastercard from Citi gives Free Legal cover for motor claims

I used the Legal cover once - got a good lawyer from a top Edinburgh Law Firm - he was excellent - he forecast the opposition would cave in just before the claim came to court, he forecast the payout and it cost me nothing apart from the 21 month delay in getting them to the steps of the court.

I would not have risked the upfront payment of £2,000 in fees (Hospital, doctor, physio, lawyer, court...........) for a payback of £4,000. Not that I thought I would lose but the just the hassle.

The 3rd party returned lawyer's letters as "gone away", would not issue their driving licence details ............ the lawyer did it all - all I did was wait.

£20 well spent!

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Sun 16 Sep 2007 12:59
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - local yokel
>And If I am serious accidenct with injury there are 100s of no win no fee (and I mean truly not win no fee so no conditional fees etc) who will take on my case.

You get what you pay for - no win no fee claims take 30% or more of the claim, and you have no guarantee of the quality of the work.

Spend the £20 quid - I've spent more on a round, for pity's sake. (Not often, mind, I am from Lancashire)
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Sun 16 Sep 2007 15:03
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - MGspannerman
I was always uncomfortable about these, not from the cost point of view but whether or not they actually did anything and were what they were cracked up to be. My wife had two no fault accidents within six months of each other, white van drivers, and I have to say they came into their own. In one case the perpetrator was doggedly pursued and we even got interest on the money that we had to pay in the first instance (and then claimed back) to get the repairs underway. I would not be without such cover now.

MGs
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Sun 16 Sep 2007 15:25
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - jlo
You get what you pay for - no win no fee claims take 30% or
more of the claim and you have no guarantee of the quality of the work.


Not sure if this is correct in a lot of cases. Some no win no fee used to charge an 'insurace fee' to cover losses if the claim was not won, however in a lot of cases the no win no fee guys pay this out if there pocket with an agreement they won't charge you if lost and you are are protected, but of course when the case is won the insurance fee is claimed of the third party plus all legal costs.

I think there are only a few dogy companies that would take a % of the winnings and those should be avoided at all costs.

Cheers

Jlo

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Sun 16 Sep 2007 15:26
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - jlo
But also just to add thanks for the feedback. It is good to hear the legal add on cover in your cases seemed to do the job well.

Cheers

Jlo
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Sun 16 Sep 2007 15:31
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - GroovyMucker
If you use a solicitor, they don't take any percentage of the damages. They wouldn't be allowed to, anyway (I can't remember what it's called, but there's a legal term for it).

If you use something other than solicitors - well, make sure you have a long spoon, just in case.

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Sun 16 Sep 2007 23:00
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - jlo
Hi,

I have just seen at the RAC website under legal cover you can get family membership for legal car cover for £25. Sounds a bit cheaper than doing it direct with the insurer.

Cheers

Jlo
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Wed 19 Sep 2007 00:16
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - jlo
Just found an interesting article on legal insurance which give both pros and cons. money.guardian.co.uk/insurance_/motor/story/0,,179...e

Cheers

Jlo
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Wed 19 Sep 2007 13:45
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - Xileno {P}
All insurance is a rip off. Unless you need it...
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Wed 19 Sep 2007 14:59
Legal cover rip-off or essential add on? - local yokel
> All insurance is a rip off. Unless you need it...

It's more of a bet - you bet the insurance co. that you will have a claim - they assess the risk, and take your bet. They don't know who will have the claim, but they hope they know how many and for how much.

Where the law allows you can keep your money. No claim within the year - you win/have saved the premium.

I do this with private health insurance. I'm healthy, and I keep myself that way. I don't pay for BUPA, so I am £XX up at the end of the year. SWMBO had a private consultation recently. We were happy to pay as it was about three months' premium for one of us, but we stopped paying the premiums 15 years ago.
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