Legal Expenses Insurance for Motor Claims
Legal expenses insurance can often be used to cover your defence costs when facing criminal legal action for a road traffic offence.
We have substantial experience representing clients accused of road traffic offences via their legal expenses insurer.
You may have purchased a stand-alone legal expenses insurance policy, but this type of insurance is often added on to other types of insurance policy, such as your home insurance or professional indemnity insurance, or it may be available as part of your employment package.
So, make sure you check your policies even if you think you do not have legal expenses insurance – you may be surprised.
Typically, you have a right to choose your own solicitor, even if your insurer has recommended a ‘preferred’ firm of lawyers (often referred to as ‘panel lawyers’). Your insurer’s panel lawyers may not have the legal expertise you need, so doing your own research and choosing your own lawyer is an important right.
We are more than happy to provide further information about how we can support you via your legal expenses insurance and offer a free 10-minute initial consultation so you can ask any questions you may have about the process.
Get in touch with our driving offence solicitors in London
From start to finish, we will have your best interests at heart. Our goal is to help you secure the best possible outcome to your motoring offence case.
Our expertise covers all types of driving offence, from speeding cases to serious cases of dangerous driving and drink/drug driving.
With our help, our clients often avoid criminal charges altogether, or are able to avoid serious consequences such as a driving ban.
If you need help with your case from a London drink driving lawyer, call the experts on 020 8309 5010 or use our contact form.
What is legal expenses insurance?
Legal expenses insurance can pay for your legal representation during a dispute (such as a driving offence matter). Being covered by insurance means that you do not have to pay for all your legal advice out of your own pocket – your insurer pays out for you.
How to find out if you are covered by legal expenses insurance
You can buy legal expenses insurance as a standalone policy. If you have not done this, you may have it as an add-on to another insurance policy, such as your car insurance, home insurance or professional indemnity insurance.
It is common to not be aware of your legal expenses insurance because it is often offered as a very cheap or even free 10-minute add-on when buying another type of insurance. So, check your policies carefully.
You may also have legal expenses insurance through other means, such as through your employer or as a perk attached to your credit card, bank account or various financial facilities.
You will need to review the exact terms of your insurance policy or contact your insurer to check whether legal expenses insurance is available and that it covers your situation – namely, whether it covers criminal proceedings.
Does legal expenses insurance cover criminal proceedings?
Insurers are often able to cover the costs of representation in criminal proceedings, but you should refer to the terms of your insurance policy or contact your insurer to double-check.
What does legal expenses insurance cover?
Again, it depends on the exact terms of your policy, but in many cases, legal expenses insurance can cover your case from start to finish, from the criminal investigation stage to representation at any hearing.
What are the benefits of funding your case through legal expenses insurance?
Working out how you are going to pay for the costs of your legal defence can be stressful, particularly if money is tight at the moment.
Legal aid is less available nowadays, and even when it is it will only cover the bare minimum of advice necessary – for example, depending on your income, you may even be required to contribute to your own legal costs anyway, meaning in some cases it can actually be more expensive to fund your case via legal aid.
Insurance is specifically in place to help you in your time of need. If your policy covers legal expenses, it is well worth it to meet the costs of your legal representation. Your insurance could cover your legal costs even if you cannot afford to pay out of your own pocket.
With insurance, you will also have certainty from the get-go about what your policy covers and up to how much (it will be written into your policy). Policies often cover very high amounts, meaning you can feel positive that (after your excess) all your costs will be met.
Can you choose your own criminal defence lawyer?
Insurers will usually have a list of approved ‘panel’ firms that they assign to cases. However, it is understandable to feel worried about whether they have the right level of experience to support you. Indeed, appointed panel lawyers may not necessarily have driving offence expertise and may have been instructed because they are cheaper rather than knowledgeable.
However, you do not have to use the panel firm. The law says that policy holders have the right to choose their own solicitor. This legal right has been upheld in court many times.
So, even if the insurer appoints a panel solicitor, you can get in touch with us for advice and it can be covered by insurance. We are criminal defence specialists with particular expertise handling road traffic offence cases.
We can deal with your insurer on your behalf and ensure all the work we do for you is covered.
We also offer a free 10-minute initial consultation to discuss how we can help and review the terms of your policy – this consultation is to help you decide whether we are the right lawyers for you and there is no obligation to formally instruct us.
You can read more about our road traffic offence expertise here. You can also visit our client testimonials page to read about some of our clients’ experiences with us, or visit our people page to learn about our expert criminal defence solicitors.
Get in touch with our road traffic offence solicitors in London
If you need help with your case from a London drink driving lawyer, call the experts on 020 8309 5010 or use our contact form.
We regularly act for clients covered by legal expenses insurance. We can provide strong legal defence services and handle your insurance provider on your behalf. You can rest assured that your liberty, rights and reputation are in safe hands.