Legal expenses insurance

Legal expenses insurance

Lots of people have this insurance as part of policies on their car or house, or might buy it as a stand alone policy. The policy will allow you to pursue a compensation case, and cover your liability to pay your own solicitor’s costs and disbursements, and those of the other side if your case fails.

Your legal expenses insurer must be satisfied the case has reasonable prospects of success, and this is necessary all through the case. Just like the after the event insurance the insurer can pull out if those prospects are no longer reasonable.

The policy will have an indemnity level, which is the maximum the legal expenses insurer will pay. You cannot increase the amount of this indemnity, so if the risk in your case is greater than the amount of the policy indemnity you may be advised to use after the event insurance to cover the remaining risk.

Some legal expense insurers will insist you use solicitors they nominate. They may have a trusted panel of solicitors, or more likely they will receive payment from the solicitor to whom they refer the case, a referral fee. The insurer is not entitled to insist you use their panel case, particularly if your case is not run of the mill. Do ask your insurer about the financial arrangements they have with their panel solicitors. You should be sure the solicitors will be committed to your case, and not be too worried about presenting a bill to the legal expenses insurer.