Is additional legal cover or personal injury cover worth paying for?

My wife had a non-fault personal injury accident some time back and obviously contacted her insurance company. Her insurance company in turn put her in touch with a Claims Management Company who (from our point of view) dealt with the whole accident claim and we were pleased with the outcome. Alas we can't remember whether we had Legal Assistance Cover bolted on to her car insurance that year or not.

It is time to renew my car insurance this month. Is there any benefit to pay for an additional premium for Legal Assistance Cover on top of the basic insurance premium or is it sufficient just to pay for the basic insurance premium and if I had an accident, apart from contacting my insurance company for notification purposes only, to go through a Claims Management Company instead of my insurance company. In essence, are the additional car insurance options that are on offer of Legal Cover and/or Personal Injury Cover worthwhile or will the basic comprehensive insurance cover suffice?

Asked on 25 February 2020 by JackG

Answered by Honest John
Due to changes in the law, the threshold that you claim back legal fees back on personal injury claims had increased to £5000. Any claims for less than this, you cannot claim the legal cost back. As most PI claims for whiplash are less than this, it means you would have to claim as a "litigant in person", which can be quite daunting. As of this year, I would highly suggest everyone purchase legal expense cover. This cover is separate from your "fully comprehensive insurance cover".
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