Can I use legal expense insurance right away after purchasing it?

Why doesn't legal expense insurance take effect immediately?

The reason legal expense insurance doesn’t take effect immediately is that insurers don’t want to provide legal assistance for ongoing disputes. People often don’t take out legal expense insurance until they’re already involved in a dispute. However, insurers won’t go along with this. Otherwise, someone might get fired on Monday, take out legal expense insurance on Tuesday, and then cancel it as soon as the dispute is resolved with the help of the legal expense insurer. In addition, your legal expense insurance does not provide coverage for foreseeable disputes. This means you cannot make a claim under your legal expense insurance for disputes you can already see coming, such as an announced reorganization.

Why is there a waiting period?

The reason you can’t immediately use legal expense insurance is that insurers don’t want to provide legal assistance for ongoing disputes. In their view, you should have taken out legal expense insurance earlier, rather than waiting until you actually need it. Otherwise, someone might take out legal expense insurance shortly after being fired, only to cancel it as soon as the dispute is resolved. That would essentially constitute an abuse of the insurer.

The same applies to foreseeable disputes. If you could have foreseen a dispute in advance, you are not eligible for legal expense insurance coverage. This still applies even if the waiting period has already expired. An example of a foreseeable dispute is an announced reorganization.

Legal Expense Insurance with No Waiting Period

There are also legal expense insurance policies that you can use immediately. In fact, a number of insurers now offer legal expense insurance with no waiting period. Once you’ve taken out the policy, you’re immediately covered in the event of a dispute. Be sure to pay close attention, though, because there are often certain conditions attached. For example, even with legal expense insurance that you can use immediately, an ongoing dispute is excluded. So it’s still pointless to take out legal expense insurance on the very day you’re fired or become involved in a dispute with your landlord.

Take out legal expense insurance through Alpina

Would you like to purchase legal expense insurance and start using it right away? You can do that through Alpina! With our online comparison tool, you can easily compare insurers. Don’t just look at an insurer’s waiting period—focus especially on the right coverage and the policy terms. That way, you can be sure you’ll have reliable legal assistance when you need it.

After entering some personal information, you can select which coverage options you’d like to include. You’ll then see an estimate of the monthly premium. Have you found the right legal expense insurance? If so, you can purchase it online right away! If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at any time. You can call us at 088 – 6883700 or send us a message via chat, WhatsApp, or Messenger.