Legal protection insurance can usually only be used after a certain period of time. In these cases, it also applies without a waiting period.
The most important things at a glance
If you have a dispute with your neighbor or employer, you will quickly find yourself in court. This can be very expensive. It is good if you have legal expenses insurance that covers a large part of the legal costs.
But what if you don’t yet have such protection or have just taken out a policy? We explain when there is a waiting period for legal protection insurance and when there isn’t – and what advantages immediate insurance offers you.
In many cases not. You must have legal protection already completed before the benefit event The insurance company will only cover the costs of many disputes after a waiting period of at least three or sometimes more monthsThis means that you, as the policyholder, pay premiums even though you do not yet have insurance cover during the waiting period.
It is irrelevant whether the dispute ends up in court after the waiting period. What matters is whether the dispute arises during the waiting periodAnd even if everything is OK and the insurance company pays, you may still be left with a Excess.
- Employment Law: Do employees always have to deliver top performance?
- Tenancy law: Tenants really have to pay these additional costs
So that you do not take out the insurance when it is foreseeable that the legal protection insurance will have to pay. With the waiting period, which is also called the grace period, the legal protection insurers want to prevent policyholders from taking out legal protection insurance only when if a legal dispute is already looming.
Legal protection insurance should therefore always be seen as a type of precautionary insurance and not as insurance in the event of damage. Otherwise, the Insurance premiums probably exorbitantly high.
Exactly what waiting times you will have to wait depends on the individual Legal protection policiesthe Services and the Providers off – and the Legal areasYou can find out which waiting period applies in your case in the relevant contracts or product information.
- Separation dispute: Who has to pay what in a divorce?
While in Employment law issues as well as the Dispute with the landlord usually three months pass before insurance coverage is available, divorces up to three years. The following applies: the more likely a legal dispute is and the higher the potential costs, the longer the waiting time.
- Employment law protection: 3 months
- Administrative legal protection: 3 months
- Legal protection in maintenance matters: 12 months
- Legal protection in matrimonial matters: 36 months
- Employment law protection: 3 months
- Housing and property legal protection: 3 months
To attract new customers, some insurance companies also offer a Legal protection without waiting or grace period There are also areas of law in which legal protection usually takes effect upon conclusion. These include:
- Traffic legal protection
- Criminal legal protection
This applies in particular in the following cases:
- in the case of legally fixed claims for damages due to personal injury, financial loss and property damage
- in criminal law, if the policyholder acts as a joint plaintiff against the perpetrator of a violent crime committed in Germany or is accused of a negligent crime
- in the case of traffic violations
- in professional and disciplinary law
- during a consultation if the personal family or inheritance situation of the policyholder changes
- in road traffic, if a vehicle unexpectedly develops defects
However, in traffic and criminal law, it also depends on which provider you are insured with. Some services within these legal areas may still be subject to a waiting period – for example, Tax, social and administrative court protection and the Legal protection in contract and property law. It is therefore worthwhile to compare the tariffs carefully.
- Traffic law: Do drivers have to obey private entrance signs?
As a reminder: Even legal protection insurance without a waiting period is not always valid without further ado. This is because the insurer pays attention to when exactly the legal dispute began. It can refuse payment if the legal dispute has already broken out before the contract is signed and the insurance certificate is handed over.
It only makes sense to opt for legal protection insurance at short notice if you immediately entitled to the benefits have and the Legal dispute started after the start of the insurance This is because the insurance cover does not apply to later disputes. It is therefore advisable to take out legal protection insurance early on and not only when the dispute arises.
Providers of legal protection insurance often waive a waiting period, if you switch providers seamlessly and that same risk already insured with previous provider However, if new components are added to the insurance portfolio, waiting periods may apply.
In some cases, however, providers do not require a waiting period for new contracts, even if the risk was not previously covered. It is also worth changing your insurance or taking out additional insurance after a certain period. Discount to ask.
No. All providers categorically rule this out because a retroactive legal protection would simply not be worthwhile for themThe insurance company would then have to cover costs that had already arisen before the contract was concluded – which could only be financed by long-term insured persons paying correspondingly high premiums.
