Cover legal-proceeding costs
Depending on the case, lawyers', court, witness, expert and enforcement costs may be covered.
Legal costs · private life, work, traffic & housing
Legal expenses cover: make access to justice more predictable.
Legal expenses insurance does not cover every dispute. It helps with agreed areas of law and types of benefit when the insured event has occurred as defined by the policy. Modules, start date and exclusions are therefore central.
Choose areas of lawObserve waiting periodsExisting disputes excluded
Why legal expenses cover works differently.
The policy insures the costs of pursuing certain legal interests. Whether the underlying claim is actually valid is decided independently.
Select areas of law
Private, employment, traffic and housing legal expenses have different roles. Self-employed people require expressly suitable business cover.
Arrange cover before the dispute
As a rule, the event giving rise to the dispute must not pre-date the policy or fall within an agreed waiting period.
Typical benefits and common exclusions.
There is no policy that covers every legal matter. The right modules and the definition of the insured event are decisive.
Typical cover
- Lawyers' and court costs up to the agreed insured sum
- Witness compensation and costs of certain experts and enforcement officers
- Disputes in private life under the selected personal legal-expenses module
- Employment, traffic or housing disputes if the respective module is included
- Depending on the policy, mediation, initial advice and out-of-court proceedings
Points to check
- Existing or foreseeable disputes are generally not insured.
- Waiting periods and the relevant point in time differ by area of law and policy.
- Family, inheritance, construction and investment law are often excluded or tightly limited.
- Criminal fines, administrative fines and deliberately committed offences are not covered.
- Tenancy and employment disputes require the appropriate modules.
Which areas of life should be covered?
The selection should match the actual exposure. More modules do not automatically make a policy more suitable.
Employees
In first-instance German labour-court proceedings, each party generally bears its own lawyers' fees—even if it wins.
Tenants and owners
Tenancy, ownership or letting must be recorded under the appropriate housing module and in the correct property role.
Drivers and the self-employed
Traffic legal expenses may cover many forms of road use. Commercial disputes, by contrast, require business cover.
Illustrative example
A dismissal leads to an employment dispute.
An employee believes their dismissal is invalid. An agreed employment legal-expenses module may cover the necessary legal costs if the relevant insured event occurred after the policy began and after any waiting period.
Illustrative example only — not personal advice and not a guarantee of cover, benefits or price.How MB Finance supports you.
We classify the relevant areas of law and your circumstances, then compare the conditions behind similar product names.
Private life, employment, traffic, housing and business are prioritised according to the actual situation.
Policy start, waiting periods and the definition of the insured event are compared clearly.
Insured sum, excess, review procedures and other features are examined.
Partners, children, vehicles and properties are classified to suit the desired policy form.
Current modules, duplication and possible gaps are documented transparently.
We help prepare the request for confirmation of cover, documents and insurer communication; a lawyer provides the legal representation.
Related policies, clearly distinguished.
Legal expenses cover pursues your own claims or defends you in agreed legal matters. Liability insurance instead protects against certain damages claims made against you.
Next page
Continue to supplementary long-term care insurance.
Care costs are not a legal-expenses issue. The next page shows how a gap can arise between statutory long-term-care benefits and actual costs.
Context, sources and notice
Cover is determined exclusively by the selected policy, policy schedule and insurance conditions. Benefits and disputes mentioned here are examples, not a guarantee of payment.