When is legal access insurance useful?

4 minutes
June 7, 2023
Une femme discute au téléphone

You and your neighbours are failing to see eye to eye. Their new fence is encroaching on your property. Their pool parties are getting out of hand... in short, you feel like you need to take legal action to settle this.

Now, this may not be your situation, but you might eventually have to defend your rights. Legal access insurance is designed for this. Let’s examine the purpose of this product and its role.

What is legal access insurance?

Legal access insurance is a fixed-cost coverage that you pay for on an annual basis. It is often tacked on to home or auto insurance.

Coverage varies from one insurer to the next, so be sure to read the contract to see what's included and what's not.

In general, legal access insurance covers five categories of risks:

  • At work (e.g. wrongful dismissal, discrimination on the grounds of age, religion, etc.)
  • Family disputes (e.g. mediation)
  • Products and services (e.g. breach of contract or warranty)
  • Bodily injury (e.g. medical malpractice, a fall)
  • Wills and protection mandates
When it comes to advice, we don’t skimp!

Even when your situation is not covered, like a divorce, you can still reach out to Beneva's team. Our lawyers will be able to answer all your questions.

What is the exact purpose of this insurance?

Let’s say someone steals your identity and this becomes a burden on your time and money. In such a situation, legal access insurance can help you get your life back. In other situations, you might need to:

  • Request legal advice
  • Get formal notices and contracts
  • Have your own documents analyzed
  • Take legal action
  • Defend yourself in court
Using legal access insurance: a real-life case

In February, Gwen and Tran bought a bungalow next to a wooded lot. Three months later, they notice the presence of carpenter ants around (and in) their home. Hidden in the walls, the ants are eating through several of the house's beams. Extermination is required as well as major structural work.

The situation didn’t happen overnight. However, the sellers made no mention of this in their declaration. We could therefore consider this a hidden defect. This situation is covered by legal access insurance.

The couple could receive free advice and retain the services of a lawyer, if necessary. In this case, their insurer could cover the legal and court expenses.

What is the difference between legal access and legal assistance insurance?

Legal assistance is free over-the-phone advice from lawyers or notaries for policyholders. At Beneva, we include this service with our car, home or recreational vehicle insurance.

Legal access insurance, on the other hand, gives you more options in the event of a problem.

What are the special features of Beneva’s legal access insurance?

Policyholders can personalize their coverage. Here’s what’s included with ours:

 

In-house expertise

While some insurers outsource this service, Beneva relies on its own legal team, whose resources are all law graduates and members of the Bar.

Duty of confidentiality

In covered situations, policyholders can call on our legal specialists for their defense or be represented by those of their choice.

Regardless of what happens next, Beneva respects client-lawyer confidentiality: we don’t know what you and our lawyers or notaries are discussing, nor do we care to know!

A premium that doesn't increase after a claim

The premium remains unchanged even after you use the service. If it does go up, it will be for everyone, and after a rate review.

Family coverage

Family members living under the same roof are covered as well as children who are away at school.

Easily recoverable cost

Legal access insurance costs $60 a year (in 2023). This means you get a $60 reimbursement for notary fees when you buy a property—with the bonus of being covered for hidden defects.

A sound investment

Let's get back to your neighbour's fence encroaching on your property. If you had legal access insurance, you’d know who to call to take action!

Otherwise, enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that this coverage remains a good investment in case things ever go wrong.

This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to replace professional advice.