Family legal expenses insurance

Find a DAS partner DAS Benefits

What can it help you with?

Personal legal expenses insurance explained

Play video

Problems at work

If you are unfairly dismissed or discriminated against, family legal expenses insurance provides access to expert legal advice to help you understand your rights and options. If the issue goes to tribunal, family legal expenses insurance could also provide cover for legal representation and costs in the event of a claim.

Protecting your home

If you are faced with a dispute relating to your home, for instance, a neighbour’s tree causing damage to your property, family legal expenses insurance will provide access to expert legal advice to help you resolve your dispute. Should it go to court, family legal expenses insurance could also provide cover for legal representation and costs.

Protecting your consumer rights

If you buy a faulty sofa and the seller is reluctant to put it right, family legal expenses insurance provides access to expert legal advice to guide you through the situation and help you understand your rights.

Personal injury that wasn't your fault

If you have suffered injury from clinical negligence or an accident that wasn't your fault, family legal expenses insurance could provide expert legal advice and representation to help you claim compensation.

Cover for legal costs

A family legal expenses insurance policy could pay up to a typical amount of £50,000 per claim to cover your legal costs and expenses, and the other person’s legal costs if you lose. Check your insurance policy for further information on indemnity limits.

Telephone legal advice

Access to telephone legal advice to help understand your rights and options on family legal matters.

Legal document drafting

Family legal expenses insurance also provides access to hundreds of legal documents using our smart legal document builders. So whether you want to apply to your employer for flexible working rights, or challenge a parking ticket, this service has everything you need to get started.

What wouldn't be covered?

  • Issues that started before you bought the policy.
  • Legal costs paid out before your claim gets accepted.
  • Claims which lack reasonable chances of success.
  • Anything specifically excluded from a policy.

Where can you buy it?

You can’t generally buy legal expenses insurance directly; most policies are purchased as additional services through home or motor insurance providers. Remember to check the cover you already have in place before adding family legal expenses insurance to a new insurance policy; you may already have it on another policy.

Find a DAS partner  Check if you're covered

If you’d like more information about family legal expenses insurance have a look at our FAQs or speak to your insurance adviser.

Family FAQs

Family legal expenses insurance can be a valuable addition to a general insurance policy, providing you and your family with a range of legal help and support.

Commercial legal expenses insurance

Providing your business with legal help and support, commercial legal expenses insurance could be a valuable addition to your business insurance policy.

Learn more
Motor legal expenses insurance

Motor legal expenses insurance could be a valuable addition to a motor insurance policy, providing you with a range of legal help and support.

Learn more
Home emergency insurance

If something happens to damage your home or render it uninhabitable, Home Emergency could be there for you.

Learn more
  • Family
Where can I buy family legal expenses insurance?

Family Legal Expenses Insurance is typically sold as an add-on product to a buildings and/or contents insurance policy. You may therefore be offered this cover by an insurance company or a broker.

What can I call the legal helpline about?

Our legal helpline can give you confidential legal advice on a range of personal legal issues.

How often can I call the legal advice helpline?

As often as you need; there are no limits on how many times you can call.

Can I claim for a problem that started before I bought the policy?

No, you can’t claim for legal disputes that started before the date your cover began. Also, in some cases – for example, employment, contract and debt claims – you may not be covered for disputes arising within the first 90 or 180 days of the policy.

Can I claim for costs I’ve incurred before making a claim?

No; it’s important that you speak to us as soon as possible after a dispute arises so we can discuss the best way to proceed. We will not cover any costs you incur before we have agreed to cover your claim, such as the cost of consulting your own lawyer.

Can I choose my own lawyer?

We’ll usually appoint a lawyer from one of our preferred law firms on the basis of their expertise to deal with your claim. However, there are instances where you have the right to choose your own lawyer – such as if court proceedings are issued or there’s a conflict of interest. It’s important to know that if you do choose your own lawyer we will only pay them the same amount as we would pay our preferred lawyers – currently £100 per hour.

What countries would this insurance cover me in?

This depends on the type of cover you have; some policies will only cover you in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, while others could cover you elsewhere in the European Union and other European countries.

This also depends on the kind of incident which needs to be covered; for example, a policy might only cover employment disputes in the UK while covering personal injury claims made in other EU countries. You should check your policy documents to see what is covered and in which countries.

Will this insurance cover disputes related to a property I am letting out?

No, the cover will only cover disputes related to your main home; legal disputes related to tenants and letting out property could be covered by property let legal expenses insurance.

Will this insurance cover motor disputes?

No, family legal expenses insurance will not cover any motor-related matters, such as contract disputes related to motor vehicles or personal injury claims for car accidents. Claims such as these could be covered by motor legal expenses insurance.

News and insights

ATE What to expect from the LDFRC scheme

Sean Linley from Carter Burnett looks how disbursement recovery could operate under the coming Lower Damages Clinical Negligence Fixed Recoverable Cost scheme.

August 2024
ATE Dispute resolution through the eyes of an ATE provider

Dispute Resolution (DR) has been a factor throughout our 22 years of providing ATE insurance.

April 2024
ATE Resolving healthcare disputes with sensitivity and efficiency

Ian Long from Browne Jacobson talks about the importance of approaching clinical negligence disputes with sensitivity and empathy.

April 2024
ATE Using mediation in clinical negligence cases

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in clinical negligence claims can take many forms, including mediation. Anna Sari from Morrish Solicitors explains.

April 2024
ATE What we have learned from 7 years of mediation

Paul Balen from Trust Mediation reflects on what he has found from his time working under the NHS Resolution Mediation Scheme.

April 2024
ATE The evolution of ATE

Nathan Holt, Head of ATE & BTE Underwriting at DAS, provides his unique view on an everchanging legal landscape and ATE’s role in providing access to justice.

December 2023
ATE 1,100 and counting – the rise of dispute resolution

Mediation and dispute resolution are on the rise, and are increasingly being preferred over court. Paul Balen, Director at Trust Mediation and Trust Arbitration, tells us more.

December 2023
ATE Fixed Recoverable Costs: is Jackson “finished”?

Nick McDonnell, Director at Kain Knight, looks at the Jackson reforms and what work remains to be done.

December 2023
ATE Looking back on 2023 & looking ahead to 2024 in ATE

Henrietta Hughes, Barrister at 3PB, looks back at developments in the road traffic and personal injury arena.

December 2023
ATE Empowering smaller legal practices: The success of the Optimise scheme

The Optimise scheme, launched by DAS and Maxima, has supported over 100 clients over the past two years, transforming the landscape for clinical negligence and personal injury cases.

October 2023
ATE The pros and cons of a Low Damages FRC (LD FRC) process in clinical negligence

Lisa O’Dwyer from Action against Medical Accidents looks at how the LDFRC process will affect Clinical Negligence claims.

September 2023
ATE Fixed Recoverable Costs is upon us

William Ellerton, Partner at DAS Law, gives his predictions for how the new FRC could play out.

September 2023
ATE How QOCS changes have affected a law firm

Matthew Olner, solicitor at Nelsons, talks about how the QOCS changes have affected his law firm.

June 2023