Introduction to
Motorists Legal Protection Insurance - Even the most comprehensive of
motor insurance policies won’t cover all eventualities and that is where legal
expenses insurance can prove useful. Your motor policy will usually have
an excess and if you are involved in an accident, it is common practice to
claim from your own policy in the first instance, usually as it is the
quickest thing to do. Your policy will usually have an excess of say 50.00 or
£100 and this amount you will have to pay when you collect your vehicle from
the repairers. This excess is called an uninsured loss and if you want
to claim it back from the Third Party that damaged your vehicle, it will be up
to you to do so, this is not a service usually offered by insurers or brokers.
Other examples of uninsured losses are as follows:-
You may find that
claiming any of the above amounts from a Third Party Insurer to be a daunting
and often time consuming process. If you take out a legal expenses policy, all
of this will be handled for you by the Legal expenses companies’ team of
experts. If Personal Injury is involved, they will probably appoint a
solicitor to act on your behalf. As the policy is underwritten, all the
solicitors’ costs will be paid and no deductions will be taken from your
settlement amount. Further if you are unsuccessful in your claim against the
third party then you will not be asked to contribute towards the solicitors
fees It is worth remembering though that the Legal Expenses insurer will only
take on a claim if they believe they will have a reasonable chance of success.
You may find that by using the services of a Legal Expenses insurer, that you
claim is handled by the Third Party in a much more timely fashion, also it may
be possible to amount a credit repair facility and a hire car. If you
have Third Party only or Third Party Fire & Theft cover, this type of policy
is much more important, actual damage to your vehicle is not covered and thus
the only way you will receive payment after a claim is if you manage to prove
that a Third Party was responsible for your damages. Legal Expenses
policies for Motorists are not expensive, you will find that the cost can be
anywhere between £10- £30.00 per annum with a maximum amount of legal fees at
approx £50,000. If you are purchasing a motor insurance policy ask about
including a Legal Expenses policy. If you are able to recover your policy
excess after a claim, this is normally sufficient to have your insurer
reinstate your no claims bonus
The Motorists Insurance Bureau & Uninsured Drivers - All motor
insurance companies in The United Kingdom are required by Law to be a member
of the MIB. The Motorist Insurance Bureau exists to compensate victims of
uninsured drivers, few people are even aware of it's existence. Most people
believe that if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident with an
uninsured driver then you are unlikely to receive any payments unless you
decide to persue a civil action against the driver. The Motorists
Insurance Bureau become involved when you are unable to obtain a drivers
insurance information or you are the victim of an untraceable driver. In the
situation of a claim against an untraceable driver, only personal injury cover
is provided, there is no cover for personal property damage. The MIB will
settle a claim with you then pursue the driver if traceable for all amounts
paid. In the case of a known uninsured driver, the first £175.00 of all
property damage claims will not be paid.
