Family Legal Protection, or Legal Expenses Insurance provides financial cover to help you pay legal fees if you require professional legal assistance for a range of circumstances. Every insurance provider that offers this valuable, often additional protection will have varying types and amounts of cover available.
Cover will vary from insurer to insurer so it’s always important that you check your own policy to find out what cover you have in place.
Here we take a look at some of the circumstances you may expect to be covered, and what it means for you in real terms.
This can often be a long drawn out process, and is almost certainly an expensive one. The last thing you need is more cost should a contractual dispute arise from the sale or purchase of your property. Legal protection cover safeguards you in cases of disputes with the estate agent, buyer/seller, or the removals firm. This coverage assists in addressing the costs associated with legal action.
There may be a breach of contract for goods or services you have bought or rented. Perhaps you have hired a carpet cleaner for the weekend and the firm isn’t refunding the deposit, or you’ve hired a firm to re-do the guttering on the house but they have only completed half the job, and you already paid upfront. Managing and resolving these scenarios will incur costs when pursuing legal action.
This can include any disputes arising from selling your own personal goods or that of the family. Note that this would not cover any business activity.
Trouble with neighbours. What if your neighbour had a new fence erected and it has ventured onto your side on the boundary line, or it has damaged the garden. These are common issues that occur as well as situations with unsociable or noisy neighbours. Legal Expenses can cover the costs of legal action for these types of problems.
You may come home one day to find damage to your property but no-one has admitted liability. In cases such as these, legal protection cover could help.
The Intelligent Insurance home insurance policy includes all of this valuable cover as standard at no extra cost. Cover is up to £25,000, subject to policy wording and claims limits, with no excess to pay.
For a small additional premium, you can upgrade cover to Family Legal Protection Plus, increasing your cover to £100,000 and including additional important cover in the following areas:
Identity fraud is a rapidly growing issue with no signs of slowing down. It takes many forms. Fraudsters might use your details to open bank accounts, order products in your name, or obtain credit cards and loans. They can even take out mobile phone contracts. Criminal activity like this can become very serious – with several known cases of fraudsters even obtaining items such as a passport or driving licence, all in a person’s name.
Understandably, this experience can be very stressful. That’s why we have included cover for personal identity fraud and access to a 24-hour legal helpline in our Family Legal Protection Plus policy.
Disputes with your employer can come out of the blue and many such issues that arise are unforeseen. One such example would be unfair dismissal where the case resulted in a tribunal.
What would you do if you were involved in an accident that wasn’t your fault?’ is a common question. It’s wise to prepare for such incidents, even though we all hope to avoid them. Did you know that accidents at home, in cars, at work, and outdoors injure over 3 million people annually, with most not being at fault?
Personal injury cases are complex, but you often have the option to claim against the responsible party or company that caused the accident. This can often be a costly process, which is why having Home Insurance Legal Cover is advantageous. This cover can help pay the legal expenses for pursuing any proceedings.
Medical negligence happens when a doctor or healthcare professional does not meet acceptable treatment standards, leading to patient injury. In this scenario, you may be able to take legal action to pursue compensation.
Legal Expenses Insurance is strictly there to cover legal costs, not compensation itself.
If you’re liable for damages relating to your car or home, a standard car or home insurance policy pays out for this.
This ‘Before the Event’ (BTE) cover does not include pre-existing disputes, legal costs incurred before your claim’s acceptance, and often excludes matters such as family law
Legal action often comes with high costs. If you need a solicitor, Home Insurance Legal Cover reassures you by potentially covering these fees. Considering these costs, the small additional premium for this type of cover is generally worthwhile. It’s crucial to know that the Intelligent Insurance home insurance policy automatically covers you up to £25,000 for certain incidents. However, if your legal bill exceeds this amount, the policy does not cover the additional costs. By upgrading to the Plus cover, you have peace of mind that you are getting up to £100,000 of legal expenses cover which should cover a lot of the scenarios described here that rack up the legal bills.
If you’d like a new quote for home insurance, or would like to add Family Legal Plus cover to your existing policies, get in touch with one of our helpful advisors via live chat or by calling 03333 11 11 10.
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