Do I need legal cover on car insurance?

If you’ve just taken out a car insurance policy, you might be wondering, “Do I need legal cover on car insurance?” Legal cover is an insurance add-on, which means you pay a small fee on top of your car insurance to get more protection.

Like excess protection, breakdown cover, and other insurance add-ons, you’re not obligated to have legal cover as part of your car insurance. But depending on what type of insurance you have, there are some very good reasons to consider it.

Here, we break down what legal cover is, looking at the costs and potential advantages so you can find the level of insurance you’re happy with.

Should I get legal cover with car insurance?

Do you need legal cover on car insurance? No.

But is legal cover worth it on car insurance? It definitely can be. If you find yourself in a situation where you have a legal case against another driver, you might be very glad you have it.

A legal cover insurance add-on (also called motor legal protection) comes into play if you’re involved in an accident and you want to bring a case against the other driver to recover the costs your insurance won’t cover.

This means legal cover can come in handy if:

• You need to claim compensation after an accident that wasn’t your fault 
• There’s a dispute about who’s to blame for an accident
• You’re involved in an accident with an uninsured driver, and have no other options for reclaiming the costs

If you have legal cover, your insurer should provide access to a legal helpline and cover the cost of your lawyer’s fees during your case.

Given how expensive court action can be, there’s definitely a strong argument for legal cover. To put it into concrete terms, a legal cover add-on often costs £20 to £35 each year. In return, you usually get between £50,000 and £100,000 of legal protection.

What does legal protection include?

Exactly what’s included in legal cover will vary from insurer to insurer. To give you an idea of what’s possible, Howden’s motor legal expenses insurance add-on covers your lawyer’s fees, and some more big expenses that probably won’t be included in a standard car insurance policy.

These include: 

• Loss of earnings if you can’t work after an accident 
• Policy excesses to refund the first part of the repair or replacement of your vehicle, which normally falls to the policyholder 
• Costs associated with claiming for a personal injury if you’re entitled to compensation

Our motor legal expense add-on also comes with some additional cover, including: 

• Damage to personal effects, i.e. other possessions that were damaged or lost in the accident, not just the vehicle
• Loss of use, covering the financial losses you sustained because you couldn’t use your car
• Replacement vehicle costs, covering the cost of replacing a car that was written off
• Motor Insurance Database (MID) disputes, which covers you if you run into problems during your case because of the way the MID has recorded your car’s insurance status 
• Pothole damage cover, to help you claim the expenses for repairing your vehicle from the authority responsible for maintaining the road
• Access to a free helpline for post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of the accident 

Sometimes, legal cover is included in fully comprehensive insurance policies. However, this isn’t automatically the case, so it’s best to check with your insurer for peace of mind.

For total protection, you can also add motor prosecution defence alongside legal cover, which will help cover your costs if another driver takes you to court.

What happens if I don’t have motor legal protection? 

If you don’t have legal protection, you’re essentially on your own if you have to take someone to court after you’re involved in an accident. This is a risk you have to weigh up for yourself. While driving without a legal cover add-on isn’t mandatory, covering the costs of a case can become very expensive very quickly.

You’ll probably benefit from legal cover if:

• You want extra peace of mind when driving. Knowing a large chunk of your legal fees would be covered, and you wouldn’t need to arrange your own lawyer, might make you feel more comfortable when you get behind the wheel.

• Your standard insurance won’t cover you for legal claims: There are three types of car insurance in the UK, and very few of them include legal cover as standard. Third-party and third-party, fire and theft insurance will only cover damages to someone else's property if you cause an accident, not the costs associated with your vehicle.

• You’d rather pay for an add-on than upgrade. As long as you have third-party, there’s no “right way” to build your insurance cover. Some people might upgrade to a fully comprehensive policy that includes legal cover, while others prefer to stick to a more basic policy and choose the add-ons they think they really need.

Having covered the benefits, though, it’s important to know that legal cover isn’t a silver bullet that protects you automatically if you’re involved in an accident.

For example, many insurers will not cover your legal costs unless they believe there’s a reasonable chance (usually a 50% chance or more) of you winning the case. This means you can pay for legal cover, be involved in an accident, and still be on your own if you want to make a claim.

Other potential drawbacks of a legal cover add-on include:

• An additional expense: At a time when insurance costs are rising across the UK, many people are looking for ways to save on their car insurance and reconsidering whether they really need the add-ons they’ve selected before.

• You won’t be able to choose the lawyer who represents you when your case goes to court. More often than not, they’ll be picked from a list of lawyers who work with your insurer instead.

• Legal cover doesn’t cover the costs if you’re prosecuted, only the costs of taking someone else to court. Remember, you need motor prosecution defence if you want that peace of mind.

Again, it’s up to you to explore your options and find a solution that balances the cost of the policy with the cover you want to have.

Do you need legal coverage for car insurance? The final word

Adding legal cover to your car insurance gives you an extra layer of protection. It also gives you the peace of mind of knowing that, if the worst happened and you had to take someone to court for compensation or lost earnings after an accident, you’d be able to pursue your case without worrying about sky-high legal fees.

However, legal cover is not a requirement. Many drivers don’t have it, and the choice is yours.

Ready to weigh up your options? Contact our team of experts to find out more about Howden’s motor legal protection and get a personal quote.

Also read:

• Here’s why you need legal expenses covered with your home and contents insurance
• Car insurance: What is a non-fault claim?
• Someone hit my car. Whose insurance do I call? 

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