If you’ve had a fire, been burgled or your roof’s blown off, then it’s pretty much cut and dried that you should claim on your
home insurance. However, home insurance can be surprisingly versatile, and your policy may also contain some other goodies that you may not have considered. This can be a considerably cheaper way of protecting yourself in certain situations… Such as in the case of legal disputes.
Family legal protection
Your policy may contain cover for legal disputes, also known as family legal protection. Solicitors rarely come cheap, so this could prove very handy indeed. Not all policies will contain this cover, but it may well be offered by the bigger brands. As with all insurance, it’s a really good idea to know what your policy offers before committing to it, and how it can benefit you specifically.
In the event that you have to pursue a civil claim, protection will usually cover legal costs and expenses up to a certain amount. This may apply to disputes such as the following:
- Personal injury or death.
So, for example, if a friend becomes injured on your property, then the legal protection should cover you for a claim made for compensation up to the specified amount. This will tend to exclude cases of medical negligence or accidents involving motor vehicles. - Purchase or sale of the residence.
This is basically cover for contractual disputes arising from the sale of the property – for example with the estate agent, or firm involved with the removal process. - Property disputes concerning your residence.
This provides protection for disputes involving noisy neighbours, boundary disputes, or damage to the property where no-one has admitted liability etc. - Consumer disputes.
This is cover for any disputes arising from buying, hiring or selling goods in the home. - Employment disputes.
This can cover you for costs arising from an employment dispute involving a tribunal – such as a case for unfair dismissal, for example. - Tax investigation.
It’s possible to get cover for any legal costs that arise from the Inland Revenue looking into your tax affairs.
So legal protection could prove invaluable in certain situations. For this reason, the benefit of knowing your policy becomes abundantly clear… You might already be paying for this level of cover without realising it! Alternatively, if you think that you require this level of protection but it’s not included in your policy, then it may be time to consider an upgrade or a new home insurance provider.
