Legal fees after a road accident - are they covered?

A victim of a motorbike accident called me the other day. He wanted legal assistance in connection with his case. As he had a reduced income in the form of work assessment allowance from NAV, his finances were strained. It was therefore very important for him to clarify what risk he ran of incurring legal expenses.

Firstly, I would like to say that there is generally limited knowledge among the people an injured party meets, whether doctors, therapists, social workers, etc. regarding coverage under the compensation item legal expenses. Nor does the insurance company inform you of your rights to coverage of legal assistance at the start of such cases.

The costs of a lawyer following a road traffic accident, whether the accident involves a car, motorbike, moped or bicycle, are generally covered by the insurance company that is responsible. Occupational injury and occupational disease cases are treated in the same way as traffic injury cases. This «additional expense» incurred by the injured party in the form of legal assistance is treated in the same way as all other expenses incurred as a result of the injury, such as medical expenses.

When starting new personal injury cases following road traffic accidents, our lawyers contact the responsible insurance company to confirm coverage of legal expenses. When such confirmation is received, the injured party has good predictability for their future legal expenses.

If there is any doubt as to whether parts of our work are covered by the insurance company, we always contact the company to clarify the situation. The injured party should know when he or she risks having to pay part of the bill themselves.

If a dispute arises between the parties. That is, disagreement about whether the conditions for compensation have been met, we will, on behalf of the injured party, activate any legal aid insurance that may exist. We also assess at all times.

Based on the above, we would argue that in most cases, the injured party does not run the risk of a large legal bill. There is often a lot to be gained by engaging one of our specialised lawyers.