You may or may not have heard of Legal Expense Insurance; your insurance company may offer it as part of your insurance cover on your car. But whatever you do, don’t pay for it!
Basically it is a service that insurance companies offer that is nothing more than a sham! What happens is, if you have had an accident and you report it through to your insurance company, they will most probably try to persuade you to place a claim with them for any personal injuries you may have sustained. I would strongly advise that you don’t place a claim for personal injury with them; this is because you will straight away lose money. Claims companies and Insurance companies are not equipped to deal with personal injury claims; it’s solicitors who can only deal with these claims efficiently.
Insurance companies basically sell your claim to one of their solicitors who will bid the most money for your case. Insurance companies have a panel of solicitors who they will refer claims to, and the solicitor who is willing to pay the most for your claim will then handle the case. The money that is paid to the insurance company, known as a referral fee, could rightfully be yours as this money isn’t something that can be claimed back from the third party at fault. The money is sometimes taken from your settlement figure, or they will provide a terrible service as they cannot afford to spend more money on running your claim.
So, the insurance company could be benefiting from your claim, especially if you pay for Legal Expense insurance. A lot of insurance companies will try and persuade you to take out legal expense insurance alongside your insurance policy. Make sure you don’t because really, all you are doing is paying for the insurance company to refer your claim on and profit from it for nothing!
If you don’t know how to claim for any losses or personal injury, seek the advice from an independent law firm. That way you will know that you will receive the full compensation you deserve. Plus you will be dealing with an actual solicitor who will be handling your claim, rather than an inexperienced claims handler that claims management companies employ.
