Legal expenses insurer DAS has signed its biggest single deal to date, with Co-operative Insurance Society, to cover its 1.7m household policyholders.
DAS will provide tailored cover based on its Family Legal Protection policy and access to a 24-hour legal advice helpline.
The legal expenses package will be added to CIS's home contents and buildings cover at no extra cost on renewal. Last year, 95% of CIS customers renewed. It will also apply to new household policies.
The legal cover is to include a comparatively high limit of indemnity of up to £50,000. It will apply to personal non-motor injury claims as well as employment, consumer and property disputes anywhere in the European Union.
Bob Seedhouse, manager of CIS's non-life department, said the offer is timely considering the recent sharp reduction in the availability of legal aid.
He added: "We believe that this cover also avoids the difficulty of finding and funding conditional fee arrangements, and provides our customers with a comforting level of protection against rising legal costs."
DAS said it was confident that the CIS legal expenses scheme is the largest ever agreed in Britain.
Andy Westall, corporate account manager for DAS, said: "We are delighted to offer CIS policyholders the opportunity to enjoy legal peace of mind at a time when most of them would otherwise have to look to their own resources to protect their legal rights."
The contract builds on CIS's existing partnership with DAS for uninsured loss recovery to 75,000 motorists and 17,000 motorcyclists.
