Is it worth adding legal expenses insurance to your car insurance?

Getting into a car accident can be a very traumatic experience, but worse so, it can be more costly than you think if you do not have legal expenses insurance.

Many people think, as long as they have car insurance they will be covered, concerned only with the excess. However, if the accident isn't your fault and you're injured as a result, you could be left with racking up costs with no way to pay them.

Here we look at the benefits of legal expenses insurance and how for a nominal annual fee it could save you thousands of pounds in the long run.

What is legal expenses insurance?

Legal Expenses Insurance - or Motor Legal Protection - is an additional insurance which provides the cover you’ll need to claim back losses not covered by your main car insurance after a non-fault road traffic collision.

This type of insurance will usually cover the cost of taking legal action against the person responsible for the loss, often referred to as Uninsured Loss Recovery.

This means that if the insured person is at fault, they will not be able to utilise the insurance to claim back their losses.

Benefits of legal expenses insurance

The main benefit of legal expenses insurance is the vast amount of cover you can get for a comparatively nominal fee. And it also fills the gaps your car insurance doesn't cover you for, which many people aren't aware of.

Examples of the types of losses which are often claimed back by these policies are:

• Your car insurance policy excess
• The cost of a lawyer to claim for a personal injury on your behalf

LEARN MORE: Legal Expenses Insurance provided by RAC

This type of insurance will also cover you for:

• Legal defence. Up to £25,000 cover for legal costs if you've received a summons for an alleged motoring offence involving your vehicle.
• Motor consumer disputes. Up to £10,000 cover for legal costs to help you pursue a breach of an agreement following the purchase, sale, service or repair of a motor vehicle.
• Advice on personal legal matters in the UK including - Wills, Probate, Employment, Family and Conveyancing matters.

If you do not have legal expenses insurance and find yourself in a non-fault road-traffic collision, there is still a way to insure yourself, it is called After the Event (ATE) Insurance 

• READ MORE: Undertaking – have you been breaking the law?
• If you're looking to borrow a car for a short-period of time, we offer temporary car insurance
• RAC Learner Driver Insurance

What is After the Event Insurance?

After the Event (ATE) Insurance is a type of legal expense insurance that protects individuals or businesses involved in litigation from the financial risks of losing a case.

It covers the opponent’s legal costs, which could otherwise be substantial.

ATE insurance is often used alongside "no win, no fee" agreements, particularly in high-risk cases like personal injury or commercial disputes.

This insurance allows claimants to pursue legal action without the fear of incurring significant financial losses if they lose the case.