What is Legal Expenses Insurance?

Legal Expenses insurance is an additional area of cover, often added to household, motor or packaged commercial insurance policies to provide access to legal advice and a sum insured for legal costs to help defend you (or your business), or take action against a third party who has wronged you.

The most common examples might include: claiming against a negligent driver who has driven into your vehicle and injured you, or helping resolve an employment dispute or contractual issue within your business (or as an individual if you have been treated unfairly at work). 

The cost of taking legal action can be extremely prohibitive and often early professional advice makes a significant difference to the prospects of success in an action or avoidance in the first place with a well written legal response.

The access to professional advice and support for a small premium is in our opinion well worth the investment and we recommend all clients have some form of legal expenses cover that they can use in the event of an incident.
Cover purchased on an “After The Event” (ATE) basis are significantly more expensive than general or “Before the Event” (BTE) policies but can still provide useful cover and financial protection if your prospects of success are strong.

One significant feature of this type of policy is the “Prospects of Success” clause, a qualified solicitor or legal advisor will review your position under the covers, but the insurer will only take on your case if they feel you have a greater than 50% chance of succeeding in your action.

Clarke Williams can offer legal expenses policies as an addition to all classes of policy we offer such as commercial combined, commercial property, residential households, private car, motor fleet or advise on the suitability of built in covers as opposed to a standalone policy.

As always, if you would like further information about this class of insurance or advice about your personal or business insurance requirements, please contact one of our advisors on 01732 252 898.