Legal expenses insurance

With basic legal expenses insurance, you insure the costs of smaller disputes and traffic cases, as well as legal and other expert mediation. In the event of a conflict, a lawyer from the legal expenses insurer will initially handle your case. If an outside expert or lawyer must be called in by the insurer, this is also covered, as are the costs of court proceedings. Should you be sued yourself, the insurance also provides assistance in this criminal or civil case. With legal assistance insurance, you do not have to hire an expensive lawyer in the event of a dispute, whose hourly rate is often higher than the annual premium of the legal assistance insurance.

Legal expenses insurance is usually modular, so you can tailor it to your own needs.

No one expects to need legal aid. Yet it is more common than you may think. Whether it is necessary to take out insurance depends on your personal situation. A conflict is sometimes in a small corner. For example, if you have a job, spend a lot of time on the road with your car and own a home, the chance of a conflict is greater than if you are retired and spend a lot of time at home. Unfortunately, legal conflict cannot always be avoided. Resolving a legal conflict is sometimes very complex and can also be quite expensive. You may have to deal with litigation costs, attorney fees and costs of independent experts. Legal expenses insurance can also be useful for an entrepreneur. There is special business legal expenses insurance for this purpose.

Legal expenses insurance coverage is always modular. There are a total of four modules, namely Consumer & Housing, Income, Traffic and Tax Law & Property. Are you on the road a lot for your work? If so, you might consider turning on the Traffic module, for example. When determining the right modules, you can also look at the insurance policies you already have in place. Do you already have legal assistance insured with your car insurance? Then you do not need to activate the Traffic module. This way you can choose which modules you take out and you are not accidentally double insured. We have briefly explained the four modules below:

Module Traffic

The Traffic module ensures that you and your family are always insured for legal assistance worldwide, in all traffic situations. So you are not only insured by car, but also as a (moped) cyclist or pedestrian. As soon as a traffic accident occurs, you can report the damage to us. We will then contact your legal expenses insurer, who will take the matter completely out of your hands and make every effort to recover your damages, even if this requires legal action.

Consumer and Housing Module

With the Consumer and Living module, you and your entire family are insured for legal assistance within the European Union in a variety of consumer matters, such as purchases (in-store or online) and problems with a supplier of energy, telephone or Internet. Has damage been caused to your home (in the Netherlands), or are there disputes concerning your home (such as buying/selling/renting/maintenance/renovation)? These are also insured on the legal assistance insurance. As well as disputes with neighbors or family. Divorce is excluded on most policies because this is a dispute between 2 insureds on the same policy. In some cases it is possible to take out additional insurance for mediation (a form of mediation outside of court).

Income module

The Income module offers the whole family legal assistance in disputes concerning, among other things, the employment contract, a social insurance benefit/benefit or pension entitlements. For example, if you are made redundant, or the amount of your benefit is in dispute, your legal expenses insurance can provide legal assistance.

Module Tax and Wealth

The Tax and Wealth module provides coverage for the entire family in the Netherlands in the event of disputes with, for example, the tax authorities or a securities transaction. Disputes regarding your second home are also covered, provided it is located in the Netherlands or the European Union.

If you are considering legal expenses insurance, it is good to consider a few points:

1. Is there a need for legal expenses insurance? For small disputes, it does not pay to pay premiums for years;
2. Overlap: check carefully whether or not you have overlap through other insurance, this can save money;
3. Coverage: look carefully at the coverages and different modules you think you will need. This can save in the premium you will pay;
4. Insured: with most insurers, you also insure your family (if they live with you);
5. Waiting period: some insurers have a waiting period after taking out insurance. Also, they may not consider disputes if the dispute has already started before the insurance is taken out;
6. Insured amount: up to what amount are you insured? Often insurers have a maximum insured amount. If you exceed this amount, you may have to pay extra;
7. Cancellation: always check with your insurer on how to cancel;
8. Compare: compare different insurers well. This can save you money and you will be able to get a well-fitting insurance policy that way.

When you take out legal expenses insurance, in many cases there is a waiting period. This means that you cannot call on your legal aid immediately. Suppose you take out insurance on July 1 and you get into a nasty dispute with your employer at the end of August. However, the terms and conditions of your insurance policy state that there is a six-month waiting period in the field of employment law. You can't claim on your insurance then because your in the waiting period. Usually, the waiting period of a legal expenses insurance is about three to six months after taking out your insurance. Incidentally, this varies by insurer, but also by coverage. There are also insurers that have no waiting period for legal expenses insurance.

The cost of insurance depends on a number of factors:

• Coverage
• Your family composition
• The deductible
• The maximum coverage for external costs

The amount of the insurance premium is influenced, among other things, by your family composition. Are you single without children? Then you will pay less premium for your legal expenses insurance with most insurers than a family with children. By indicating your family composition when taking out the insurance, everyone in the family is co-insured, even children living away from home or parents (in law or otherwise).

In addition, the cost depends on the deductible you take out. The higher the deductible, the less premium you pay per month. Finally, you choose maximum coverage for outside expenses. A legal dispute may involve attorney fees. Many insurers have a limit to the reimbursement of external costs. So if you want to hire your own lawyer, the insurer will only reimburse up to a certain amount. If you want to increase this amount you will pay a higher premium per month.

What all is covered under legal expenses insurance depends on the modules you take out. You choose what you want to be insured for. In addition, it is of course important which persons are covered by your legal expenses insurance. When you take out insurance, you provide your family situation. Once the insurance is taken out, your entire family is insured for legal assistance. The family includes not only partner and children living at home, but also:

• Children living away from home, for example because of study
• Resident parents or parents-in-law
• Resident staff, such as an au-pair or skin-keeper

Do you already have insurance but your family situation is changing? For example, because you are getting married, divorced or have a child? If so, always inform your insurer.