Is legal cover worth buying as an insurance extra?

[elgard]

My bike insurance renewal came in the post and i was discussing the renewal price with my brother and he was saying that the legal cover wasn't worth the extra £30 there asking as the insurance itself would cover everything.
My old insurance man told me for the price, it was essential as it could be very costly if you caused an accident and it went to court.
"Where talking mega-bucks" he said.

So i was wondering how many actually take this legal cover or was my insurance man just trying a hard sell tactic.
Many Thanks.

[Minty]

I take it out.

It covers you for uninsured losses in the event of an accident. Things like your excess, bike gear, helmet, bag of diamonds on your back that got destroyed.........etc.

They will take up the baton and persue that via their insurers/insured driver.

In the event of a spill, I dont want to be faced with doing any chasing. Comprehensive and legal cover suits me.
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My fingers smell of your mum.

[druidsam]

get an insurance quote from ebike and they give you free legal cover


...............Sam
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trust me! I'm a druid
https://www.bikerforum.co.uk/

[stinkwheel]

[G]

In every case I have seen, should you have to use the cover, what it offers is:
A non win no fee solicitor.
A large bonus to the people you have taken the cover out with as a "finder's fee".

They don't cover you if you were the cause of the accident in my experience - as mentioned, this is what your main insurance is for in the first place.

Complete rip off to my mind - if you want to use a no win no fee 'claims management' company, then choose one yourself.

[alone]

I was confused by the Helmet and Leather cover.. It was put across that I can only claim if I'm not at fault. If I bin it, hard luck.

When I had my last accident, it wasn't my fault, and I claimed for everything that had been damaged! No problem..
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Bikes; '06 Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (for sale) - '95 BMW R1100GS

[Robby]

It's a con.

If the accident is your fault, the insurance company are responsible for the liability. They are generally incompetent, however you're not going to know the liability instantly and you'll probably be injured too, so you'll find your own no-win no-fee solicitors.

Remember, it's no-win no-fee. They may still choose to represent you if it's your fault, on the basis that a split liability with 20% for you is still money coming in.

If the accident is someone else's fault, you'll be using a no-win no-fee solicitor.


I too find them very eager to sell me legal expenses cover, maybe the call centre monkeys get the most commission on it. Once I had a guy almost refuse to sell me the policy without it, took 15 minutes before he got the message that I wasn't buying it. He was calling me and the policy was very cheap, otherwise I would have hung up.

[yuri2085]

[Kris]

[stinkwheel]

I think I'd actually hire a proper solicitor specialising in that type of claim rather than a no win no fee one. There are often strings attached to the no win no fee ones (such as insurance policies to be taken out on winning etc.).

Often the first consultation is free anyway and they'll tell you then if it's worth proceeding. If you win, you claim back your costs. If you don't win, the solicitor has some 'splainin to do.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

The insurance it's self is effectivey entirely profit - and the more they sell, the more profit they get from 'preferred solicitors' who will probably pay a retainer fee to be on their list. In a lot of cases this is pretty likely to be a lot more profit than they've made from their policy I suspect.
The commission them make if you do 'use' the policy I believe tends to be massively higher than the profit they make on the policy - in the hundreds of pounds often I believe.

[BanditJeff]

One of the reasons i left Carol Nash, apart from the fact they now have rip off premiums, is that they include legal cover, and they wont take it off and give you a cheaper policy.
No one should buy this totally unneeded insurance extra, in fact you even get free legal cover just for getting a quote with The Bikeinsurer.

[alone]

[Ste]

[alone]

My kit wasn't brand new. Unfortunately it's like for like. It didn't matter how good condition my kit was in.

Essentially, my helmet was worth £150 brand new, but second hand, it wasn't.. Trust me, I kicked up plenty of fuss!
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Bikes; '06 Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (for sale) - '95 BMW R1100GS

[Ingah]

[Ingah]

I'm going to quote what a knowledgeable person (works in the industry) posted elsewhere on the net, as it answers the question. I have LEI cover - but only because Carole Nash won't remove it (they were the cheapest despite tacking it into the price):

"If you are involved in a crash, and it is your fault, then the third party insurance you have to have by law will cover all the costs incurred, no problem.

However, the problem arises when the accident is not your fault.

However your insurance company words it, there is no such thing as free LEI, all they do is tag it onto your policy somewhere along the line usually at a cost of between £25 - £30 per vehicle.

If you have a crash and it is not your fault, your insurance company will appoint what is called a panel firm of solicitors who are paid a retainer and work for considerably lower fees than a non panel or private firm. In many cases, you will be appointed a solicitor at the opposite end of the country and you will never even get so much as a phone call let alone a visit.

This firm will then add you to the conveyor belt and you will simply become a number and the firm will settle your case as quickly as possible so that they get their fees paid as quickly as possible, usually resulting in your claim being seriously undervalued.

However, by going with a firm of your choice on a conditional fee agreement (no win no fee), not only do you decide who to instruct, but you can choose a specialist, someone local or a firm recommended.

No win o fee means that you retain 100% of your compensation, the law firm claims their fees from the other side when the case settles, and 99 times out of 100 your claim will be valued properly because whether it settles in 12 months or several years later (as can happen sometimes) they wiill fight your corner to the bitter end.

I have just reviewed a file that has come over to us. The rider had a bad accident in 2005 resulting in a brain injury as well as several other nasty injuries. The legal expenses insurers appointed solicitors who subsequently spent over £100,000, but have yet to take a statement from the client or any witnesses, proceedings were issued 24 hours before limitation expired in a court at the opposite end of the country to where the client lives or the accident occured, and they were looking to accept 50% liability.

The case is worth several million, and there is no way that 50/50 is acceptable.

The original firm did not even think about obtaining an interim payment, even though he has not been able to work for 3 years and is unlikely to work again.

That is just one example and I could give you many more examples, and in fact when I did a presentation on Thursday, everyone who had used their LEI in the past said that they also had a bad experience

If the accident is not your fault, a CFA will serve you far better than legal expenses, a CFA will cost you nothing, and you will be treated as an individual rather than just a number. Your case will also be valued properly."
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-- Ingah

[Kris]

[Ste]

[alone]

Then I got shafted. Ah well. It was... 4 or 5 years ago now! and I wasn't as aware of things as I am now.

I was offered the chance to decline, and I had done so on the value of the bike twice already. At this point I was fed up of waiting for the money to come through.
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Bikes; '06 Triumph Sprint ST 1050 (for sale) - '95 BMW R1100GS

[iooi]

Legal cover a total con.....

When i got shunted up the rear in the car. The case was handed to the legal co to deal.... Strange given that i was fully comp.
Took a age to sort out.
Afterwards when Ins came up for renewall I was in the brokers office talking to the lass dealing and when she mentioned legal cover I said no, she look at me and asked why. I explained that I was FC and should not need it if it was not my fault as in my previous shunt.
She talked on about it and let slip that the co they passed their cases onto was owned/run by the Ins brokers son......
As soon as she mention this I told her that I would not take the policy out with them and I was off else where as I thought that there was a major conflict of interest and that they had not acted in my ( the customer) best interests in dealing with a claim.She did not to surprised either.....
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[LeeR]

I've stopped paying it, and already have it included as part of my roadside recovery, it's worth checking the benefits of stuff you might already have.

As others have said there are plenty of good no win no fee solicitors specialising in motorcycle claims.
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My claim to fame: Austin Vince nicked my pen...

[Noxious89123]

+1, Legal cover is a rip off, as is helmet and leathers cover.

There's a member on here called CompenClaim who works for a solicitors. He made a hread quite a whil ago, detailing th ins and ous of legal cover and how it works, and why your better off with a private no win no fee solicitors.
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[Ingah]

Why is helmet and leathers cover a rip-off then.

Usually £50 excess, wear-based price reductions (which i can imagine being reasonably harsh), and forcing you to admit that it was damaged in an accident, therefore going onto the insurance database, even if no other vehicle/person was involved (meaning you need to declare it and pay more money out again in future years insurance).
These make it quite poor value, but how is it a "rip-off" (especially if your gear is worth quite a few bob). I'm under the impression it's provided for the times when you have, for example, a single-vehicle off, or accident of your own fault on TPO cover.
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-- Ingah

[G]

Because in the example above it was only covered by non-fault accidents.