There are a lot of misunderstandings when it comes to legal cover and car insurance. If you have car insurance, you may not even understand why you may need additional legal cover.
In the event of an accident, motor legal protection could safeguard you against an array of extra costs and help you claim back expenses.
In this guide, we’ll look at all the key terms and explain what legal cover car insurance is, how it works, and why it is so important.
What is legal cover car insurance?
Legal cover car insurance was created to prevent motorists from suffering financial losses if they were involved in an accident that wasn’t their fault. It does this by covering costs such as loss of earnings, policy excesses and the expense of making a personal injury compensation claim.
Your standard car insurance policy alone can’t help you claim these back. If you don’t have legal cover, you will have to hire a solicitor to try and make these claims. That’s an expensive outlay with no guarantee you will get anything back.
You can get legal cover as an addition to your car insurance, but it doesn’t always come as standard. If you want legal protection, ask your insurer to include it when setting up your policy.
Also known as motor legal protection, legal cover can help with:
- Reclaiming uninsured losses not covered by standard car insurance
- Legal protection
- Any legal action after an accident
Why might you need legal cover with your car insurance?
Legal costs can be quite high if you’re involved in an accident. The main reason to get legal cover is to safeguard you against financial losses if you’re involved in an accident that isn’t your fault.
Some policies also cover legal costs for accidents or motoring offences which you have been blamed for, as well as other disputes. Legal cover can help give you peace of mind.
What does motor legal protection cover?
This will vary between insurers, but generally speaking, legal cover car insurance can include the following:
- Uninsured Loss Recovery – this is the recovery of any costs incurred as a result of an accident that wasn’t your fault such as physiotherapy bills or medical treatment if you’ve been injured. Legal cover will help you to recover these kinds of uninsured losses, which could also include loss of earnings or personal injury compensation.
- Legal defence – to cover the cost of legal expenses, if you receive a summons for an alleged motoring offence involving your vehicle.
- Travel costs – cover for travel costs to legal proceedings where the accident happened. Depending on the insurer this can sometimes include anywhere in Europe.
- Consumer disputes – cover to help you pursue breach of an agreement following the purchase, selling, service or repair of a motor vehicle.
- Legal protection/assistance/advice – your insurance company will hire a specialist solicitor to act on your behalf for any claim. Some insurance companies also provide 24/7 legal assistance as part of their legal cover. This advice can also cover personal legal matters such as Wills, Probate, Employment, Family and Conveyancing matters.
- Recover your excess – legal cover can be used to recover any excess you have to pay as a result of a crash in which you were not at fault. This may be done as part of Uninsured Loss Recovery.
- Additional drivers/family members – you can usually add family members to your policy if they live at the same address.
- Passengers – legal cover will protect and cover any passengers in your car for uninsured losses if you are involved in an accident.
- Accidents abroad – your policy will cover you abroad in the result of an accident or motoring offence although be sure to check with your insurer which countries are included.
The exact details of cover will be different between insurance companies, so be sure to shop around, compare prices and look at what different packages offer. The list above is indicative, but packages can vary. It’s always a good idea to compare deals.
What is legal protection car insurance?
Legal assistance on car insurance is essentially legal cover. Alongside protecting you against losses from accidents that weren’t your fault, motor legal assistance also helps cover legal costs if you’re facing prosecution for a motoring offence which you are disputing.
Legal protection car insurance would also cover legal costs relating to consumer disputes. This can include:
- Disputes after buying a car
- Disputes after selling a car
- Issues with a garage concerning bad servicing
- Issues with a garage concerning repairs
Some insurance companies also offer 24/7 legal advice as part of their legal cover package.
Is legal cover worth adding to my car insurance?
Although there is no legal requirement to have legal protection, there are many reasons to consider adding it to your car insurance policy. Sometimes it’s included with a standard policy, but if not it can usually be added for an additional cost.
It’s worth considering the reassurance of having extra financial support, but ultimately the decision is up to you on whether it’s worth adding legal cover to your policy. Check your policy documents carefully to see if you need it.
How do I add legal cover to my car insurance?
While some car insurance policies will include legal cover, many do not. It’s often classed as an additional extra and you’ll need to discuss setting it up directly with your insurer – either when you take the policy out or as an upgrade later on.
You can normally add legal cover by agreeing to pay an extra amount each year, although the details and what it covers will vary between companies. You’ll agree to these with your insurer before purchasing your legal cover with your policy.
Some of the extra details legal protection can offer include:
- Insuring you and your passengers (including medical costs)
- Recovery of car repair costs (if you’re not on a comprehensive policy)
- Paying excess after a crash
- Paying out for your loss of earnings
- Covering your taxi costs and phone calls
Legal protection can cover up to £100k of legal costs when pursuing a third party for damages, but it could be worth considering covering up to at least £50k as you never know when you might need it.
Only pay for the cover you need
Accidents can happen to anyone. Anyone who drives – whether regularly or on an occasional basis – can potentially face the same issues and disputes following an accident. This means it’s always worth considering whether to add legal protection cover as it can help protect you from unexpected legal costs.
How do I add legal cover to my car insurance?
While some car insurance policies will include legal cover, for many others it is not a standard feature and will be classed as an additional extra. It will need to be discussed and set up directly with your insurer, either when you first take out the policy, or later.
Usually, you can add legal cover by agreeing to pay an extra amount each year, although the exact package, and what it covers, can vary between companies and will need to be agreed with the individual insurer.
Whenever you’re taking out car insurance, one of the golden rules is to only pay for the amount of cover and length of cover you actually require. There’s no need to pay for expensive annual cover if you only need a car temporarily. Instead, why not consider a cost-effective, flexible and short-term alternative and compare temporary car insurance?
Temporary car insurance is time-limited cover that’s ideal for when you need to borrow a car, pick up a new vehicle or just share a long drive. Whenever you need to use a car that you’re not already insured to drive, temporary car insurance is the flexible and affordable option.
