What is the excess for legal expenses insurance?
Many insurances involve an excess. Although with legal expenses insurance you receive legal help and never compensation for the damage amount, some insurers still set an excess.
What is the excess of my legal expenses insurance?
How does the excess work exactly? Basically the same as with any other insurance. You pay the first amount of the legal costs that are incurred yourself. Up to the amount of the deductible.
Example:
You have made costs for legal assistance and the bill is € 500. Your own risk is set at € 200. In this case you pay the first € 200 yourself. You can claim the remaining €300 from your insurer. Whether you have an excess with your legal assistance insurance depends on the insurer. Not all companies work with an own risk.
Is legal expenses insurance really necessary?
Legal expenses insurance may seem like a superfluous luxury, but in practice it is often very useful and perhaps even indispensable. All kinds of disputes can arise in everyday life. For example, you are hit by a bicycle, have a conflict with the neighbours about the garden fence, disagree with your dismissal or are not taken seriously by a shop when they complain about a defective product. With a legal assistance insurance you do not have to solve this yourself, but you can report the dispute to your insurer. The insurer will take the matter off your hands and take legal action if necessary.
Am I obliged to take out legal aid insurance?
No, in the Netherlands it is not required by law to take out legal assistance insurance. But the costs can quickly mount up when you need legal assistance. When taking out legal assistance insurance you can choose from various modules. This way you choose for yourself what you want to be insured for.
What is a franchise?
The deductible is not to be confused with the franchise. Franchise is a threshold below which the legal expenses insurer will not handle a claim. Insurers use this amount to prevent them from incurring high costs when dealing with a legal conflict about something with a small value. Only when the damage suffered by the conflict is above the threshold amount, you can claim your legal expenses insurance.
Compare legal expenses insurances
The conditions may therefore differ from one insurer to another. Not all insurers use a franchise and an excess. If you are going to compare legal assistance insurances, these are important things to take into account in a comparison, next to the premium.
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