Legal guidance conflict of interest - policy wording

[TheRACDamagedOurCar]

Any legal bods available to advise?

I called our home insurance legal helpline to get support with a case im building against RAC, and they told me they could not help as they are the RAC! to I called our home insurance legal helpline (quotemehappy / aviva) to get support with a case im building against RAC, and they told me they could not help as they are the RAC! (it doesnt say this in the policy, i was advised this verbally)

they pointed me to this policy clause:

"they will not pay: disputes between you and us or Arc where the dispute relates to this cover"

they claim that means they will not pay disputes between "you and us".

I maintain that is only specifically where the dispute is about my home insurance (where the legal cover comes from) and not in all cases. because there is no comma in the sentence.

there is another clause:

1. Claims a. Freedom to choose your lawyer (i) If court proceedings are issued, there is a conflict of interest or if we consider the claim to be complex and requiring a specialist lawyer, you are free to choose your own lawyer by sending us their name and address"

I should get to choose my own lawyer. however they insist that this is only if AVIVA accept the claim and if i issue court proceedings. I maintain that because a conflict of interest has been identified, this meets the requirements.

Can anyone help please?

They are correct.

i have 15 years insurance experience

I maintain that is only specifically where the dispute is about my home insurance (where the legal cover comes from) and not in all cases. because there is no comma in the sentence.

had it only related to home insurance, this would have been stipulated. Op - move on and get a solicitor.

Please can you explain what the sentence in full means?

"disputes between you and us or Arc where the dispute relates to this cover"

What does "this cover" mean?

I assumed it meant the home cover, the motor cover, or any of the other policies that Avivia / Quote me Happy might provide.

Because the dispute I have doesn't relate to cover.

I'm confused by why the sentence doesn't stop at "disputes between you and us or ARC" if it just means all disputes.

And thank you for taking the time to advise me!

right.. so that clause is specifically talking about a dispute relating to that cover?

not just any disputes in general between "you and us"?

Wouldn't that be covered by the conflict of interest clause?

Don't the regulations mean they have to provide a solution that removes the conflict?

it isn't explicit! the sentence limits it to the condition that whne the claim relates to the cover

which it does not!

Anyone else who can advise either to agree or disagree with my view while im waiting to hear from Arc?

Seems pretty clear to me.

RAC legal expenses won’t cover any dispute where one of the parties is RAC or Arc.

However there’s loads of other ways there could be a conflict of interest - so it would apply to them but not to the conflict that is very clearly stipulated.

Struggling to see why you’d think differently tbh.

The clause about freedom to choose your lawyer does not override the exclusions. If a claim is excluded, you cannot somehow use this clause to get around that exclusion.

As for the first clause, that is clear to me. They will not fund disputes between you and Aviva (which is not at all surprising - why would Aviva fund you to sue them), nor will they fund disputes between you and Arc Legal Assistance Ltd where that dispute relates to the legal cover.

they won’t cover a dispute between me and RAC or ARC where it relates to this cover

otherwise the sentence should stop at “you and us”
surely? They don’t need the “relates to this cover”
part.

Comma should have been used in the clause

i mean - it’s clear to me and others on the thread

and this is legal insurance… I’m guessing that their contracts will be water tight

The legal cover is Aviva insurance ltd

the RAC is RAC insurance ltd

there is a massive conflict but they are not one and the same

and a check on a legal AI says that my dispute is not with aviva, and that the clause in question does specifiy that both criteria need to be met - disputes about the cover itself (eg i can’t get their advice against them becuase they didn’t take my claim forward)

There is also nothing in the policy that states that “us” means RAC! So that at least is a failure to notify customers clearly.

either that or it can’t be extended to mean RAC, a totally separate legal entity.

My dispute isn’t against Aviva though hence my confusion

its not RAC legal, that's my point.

my home insurer is quotemehappy with legal cover provided by AVIVA

RAC has damaged my car, i've been advised its a consumer claim.

Quotemehappy / Aviva has said they aren't able to help me however I cannot see how their policy a) excludes me from getting support against RAC or how the policy states they are the RAC (it doesn't).

I feel like I explained it really badly in my first post!

2 totally separate companies.

i feel li need to be clear about the facts to get accurate opinions though and ive not been very clear so far

i didnt ring the RAC. my legal cover isnt with the RAC. i have no cover with the RAC.