You’re driving down the highway, lost in thought, when you see flashing lights in your mirror. You look down at your speedometer and realize you’re speeding. Dang it! Do you have pre-paid legal representation? Do you fear whether or not it will work for you?
Truckers seem to be split on the issue of pre-paid legal service, some love it and say they wouldn’t drive without it and others say they’ve had it and it didn’t work for them or they wouldn’t ever trust it.
There are several companies, across the U.S., that provide pre-paid legal services for truck drivers. The fees for the coverage vary from service to service. Some plans start as low as $3.00 a week, while others cost $35.00 a month or more. Additionally, some plans have deductibles that can cost $100-$250, depending on the offense.
The amount of coverage varies, as well. Some services offer as little as 2.5 hours of service per violation but offer a additional coverage at a discounted rate.
Coverage from company to company vary, as well. Plans can include coverage fro tragic accident representation, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, log book citation, over length, over weight, property damage, personal injury, taxes and much more.
Opinions on the service vary widely. These comments were taken from The Truckers Report forum on the topic, “I was wondering if any of you more experienced drivers use the Pre-Paid Legal Service?”
The good…
Vulcan1999 wrote, “I’ve [had pre-paid legal service] since 1972. I can’t imagine getting behind the wheel without it, just like I have car, motorcycle, home, life, and medical insurance. I don’t use any of them until I need them and Thank God I have them when I do. Plus, I used it 4 years ago when my insurance said they wouldn’t pay a claim for $3,600 on medical bill for my wife and all it took was 1 letter from them and the problem was solved without going to civil court, that’s 144 months of monthly payments alone. People need to get coverage that covers more then just driving, have it cover your family.”
Rdonovan1 wrote, “I have been a member of Pre-Paid Legal for a long time and I have used it repeatedly time and time again to help me to get out of legal situations and to protect my legal rights and I can tell you for a fact that Pre-Paid Legal does work and as a result I have decided to sign up to be an independent representative of the company because it is something that my father, who is an attorney, has suggested to me over the years and it is because of him that I became a member of Pre-Paid Legal.
“I can’t say as to how well the CDLP plan works, as that is something new that they have just come out with, but if it is like the rest of their services then it ought to be good and well worth both the time and the investment, especially if it helps to protect both your job, your DAC report, and your meal ticket and I can tell you from experience that most companies can and do lie through their teeth and now because of my most recent employer who has messed up my DAC report big time I am going to have a difficult time finding any company that is willing to hire me OTR and that is actually fine with me because I am sick and tired of driving OTR and I miss the idea of being able to actually get out and have something called a real life again.”
The bad…
Notarps4me wrote, “In my opinion, it is nothing but a ripoff, as you do not get to actually speak to an attorney. All it is is nothing but a referral service that will charge you up the bing bong until it hurts, and you won’t get any kind of real quality legal advice or help from them.
“I think that is nothing but a load of b.s, as the bears are going to mess with you no matter what and it is a lot better to have some sort of protection on your side to defend against all the crap that the bears and the DOT like to pull on you, and that is not to mention all the crap that many of the trucking companies like to pull as well. In my opinion, there is just no room to be taking any chances with your meal ticket.”
Trucker Jo posted, “You don’t even want to get me started on what a think of prepaid legal. If you get a ticket, your best bet is to call the clerk and be real nice and ask them who is a good attorney to deal with a ticket issue. If you are very polite they will give up a well known attorney in the area that can handle it. I got lucky on one of mine and it was her husband, well let’s say the ticket never even made it to court, nor did I pay a dime for the ticket (paid him $200).”
And the neutral…
Buck and a half wrote, “Save a penny a mile each week into a separate account, if you need it, you will have it. If you do have a problem, you can call any lawyer in the town or county you need,and use that local one,you have to pay now or later. Best thing to do is not take chances and you will be ticket and accident free. Best of luck to you.”
In the end, it comes down to personal preference. If you chose to purchase pre-paid legal service, do your homework, ask around and check the Better Business Bureau.
We hope you don’t see those flashing lights in your mirror, but if you do, we hope it works out for you.
If you use or had experience with pre-paid legal service and want to share your experience with us, we’d love to hear about it. Email your story to [email protected].