Arc legal are a company which in my opinion hide behind what we in the public regard as reputable company names eg SAGA, ESURE but they themselves are anything but reputable. I personally purchased travel insurance with Saga, only to find that arc legal run their claims service. They seem to use a system of procedures during the claim process that can actively prevent customers from getting the necessary relevant advice. I personally wouldn't touch this company with a barge pole, and shall read all small print on future insurance purchases to make sure they aren't lurking in the background. There appear to be a number of processes used by these types of claims handlers designed purely to prevent claims. In my opinion, insurance is of little use when companies like this are involved. We might as well throw our hard earned cash out of the window.

Having had first hand experience at how this company operates I wholeheartedly endorse previous reviews. The way claims are handled is sloppy at best and not in the best interests of those seeking help. Given that a legal service is supposed to be provided one would expect a certain degree of integrity by Arc Legal. Based on our experience this company not only operates inefficiently and with a complete lack of transparency, but they appear to tolerate extremely questionable and potentially fraudulent behaviour. Unfortunately no action has been taken when serious concerns have been raised. Arc Legal do not shy away from distorting the facts and failing to address concerns in an attempt to avoid accountability. This lack of integrity and accountability is disgraceful and it makes Arc Legal complicit in some very questionable behaviour. Based on our experience this attitude goes right to director's level, if recent correspondence is to be believed. We are currently considering our options and our advice to others would be to never take out insurance with Aviva as Aviva provide legal assistance via Arc Legal. Even the directors of Arc Legal must realise that they have a responsibility towards those seeking legal assistance. They need to make sure that the business is run above board. Attempting to cover things up never works long term. Each and every one of them who have failed to act should hang their head in shame and that is putting it mildly.

This company is a total waste of time. We wanted to claim for material installed but not functioning whilst still under manufacturers guarantee. Despite having a bill stating "supply and install"and bank proof of payment by cheque to installer, this company have decided we have not enough proof of having had the job done, and paid for it. Either they are unable to read or we are. Find someone else.

Like many others took a legal cover expenses on my home insurance and had to deal with Arc legal. I found them most arrogant,intimidating and not trustworthy. They use a process to decide whether to cover your claims and as you are at the mercy of their own panel solicitors then the whole thing is a cover up between Arc and their solicitor who is supposed to present your best interest. Their solicitors see Arc legal as their client bringing business to them, so actually these solicitors cannot have your best interest at heart and are conflicted. There is lack of transparency and you are not privy to what happens between Arc legal and their solicitor. They have their own agenda and their solicitor looking for any opportunity to down grade the claims so Arc removes the cover. It is a nightmare dealing with this company and its panel solicitors. They also do not let you see note of communications between them and their solicitors which makes one wonder what they hide.

We made a claim through our home insurance on advice from the solicitor we had spoken to. Our claim (in our eyes and most people who live by us and a surveyor) is solid. Arc legal not interested, the paralegal at Irwin Mitchell Sheffield branch, in our eyes didn't know what he was talking about. Just kept saying it was disproportionate to the value. He didn't tell us anything that we didn't find out ourselves from the internet, if anything we had to tell him things. Then he just didn't answer those questions at all. What's the point in having legal cover if they are not interested in helping when it's needed. Wasn't even going to take out the cover was talked into it by TESCO.... TESCO not worth contacting as just passed us back to Arc Legal who surprisingly said contact Irwin Mitchell. Talk about Merry go round.

I made a claim on my home insurance last year and the legal policy was with this company arc. They were good, and easy to get hold of and paid the whole thing. It's a bit of a process whenever with lawyers but at least we got the result. I was surprised by all the other reviews here but I guess some aren't so good.

When paying for legal cover with Tesco Insurance, this is the company WHO WILL NOT HONOUR YOUR COVER NO MATTER HOW STRONG YOUR INSURED CASE IS. Tesco also no use at all - AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I WOULDN'T GIVE ANY STARS AT ALL THEY ARE BEYOND TERRIBLE

Took out arc legal cover with my insurance with Aviva - when I needed legal cover, arc assistance were called upon - they took all the details then promptly told me to make a claim through the small claims court because it wasn't in their interest to pursue my case. I have now taken my insurance business elsewhere, because of arc and aviva not listening to their cusomers. I'm being generous leaving a 1 star review - if the option of minus 5 was available then it wouldnt have been a 1 star!!

ARC have been dealing with my Claim for Legal Expenses since 15th January 2014, they are a total Nightmare, my Insurance Company is LV, and they have been of no help to me. I sent all the details of my claim to LV, they sent it all on the ARC, then they Email me and say they are UNCLEAR AND UNSURE, every time you Email them you get an Email saying you will get a reply in 5 days, then they say you have not sent all the information, and they ask you for Information you have already sent them, I asked LV if they sent all the Information I sent to them to ARC, and they advised me that they had, so I sent it to them and LV sent it to them, but they are still asking for the information I and LV have twice sent them, I activate the LV complaints system and the Arc Complaints system but nothing happens, I have now contacted the FSO for help, they also use Lyons Davidson Solicitors that are on the Internet a the Solicitors from hell. they took 5 days to contact me, then stated they would contact me in 7 days for more details of my complaint, they never contacted me, complained to LV about them. ARC will not give me the Name of the Solicitor that will give a Legal Opinion on my case, seven weeks after my claim was lodged with them I have not got a reply or any information on what they are going to do about my claim, again LV and Arc have refused to reply to my complaint against them. Beware of any Insurance Policy that you take out when you request that you would like Legal Expenses on it, if it is ARC run a mile, they are the Legal Expenses from HELL Insurance Company. Remember they are always UNSURE AND UNCLEAR ABOUT ANYTHING, no matter how detailed you are with the information, and documentation you send them. If you have ARC as your Legal Expenses cover, you effectively have no cover, and all you are doing is wasting your money, and they are always UNSURE AND UNCLEAR, apparently they are all brain dead.

In my experience, the legal expenses insurance provided by Arc Legal Assistance is little more than a damp squib. It provided me with no benefit when I needed legal help and I would not consider paying for it again - not under any circumstances. Peace of mind? I don’t think so. I found dealing with Arc Legal and its panel solicitors, Irwin Mitchell, more stressful and frustrating than coping with the legal dispute with which I applied for assistance in the first place!  It would appear to me from my very negative experience that the ubiqitous reasonable prospects of success test is capable of being manipulated to the nth degree. In my case, I was told that the merits of my case could not be assessed unless I first spent hundreds, if not thousands, on experts’ reports which might, or might not, at some point in the distant future, be required to support the case. Funnily enough, numerous non-panel solicitors, on the other hand, did not require me to fund experts’ reports before assessing the merits of my claim. However, Arc would only provide cover for Irwin Mitchell. I wonder if Irwin Mitchell pay Arc a referral fee? I was told to write letters myself, to ask a surveyor for legal advice as to whether or not the Party Wall Act applied and eventually informed, after jumping through hoops for weeks on end, that I wouldn’t be covered unless I could demonstrate that my claim was worth more than 10K, ie, the present small claims limit.  In my opinion, if it is Arc Legal’s intention not to fund cases potentially worth less than £10,000, this should be spelt out in its policies in BIG RED letters. Had I gone ahead and paid for experts’ reports in order to have my case assessed, as initially suggested by Irwin Mitchell, this would have been a complete waste of money, given that they would then have proceeded to write to Arc stating that in their opinion my case was potentially a small claim and should not be funded because they wouldn’t get the costs back, even if successful. It is clear to me that, despite having the supposed benefit of legal expenses insurance, I was treated by Irwin Mitchell no differently to a no win/no fee approach. In other words, my case would not be taken on unless Irwin Mitchell was almost certain of winning.  In the end, I acted in person and won my case, no thanks to Arc and no thanks to Irwin Mitchell. Incidentally, I paid a non-panel lawyer privately to confirm my opinion that the Party Wall Act did not apply. Irwin Mitchell were unable to provide this confirmation, due, presumably, to lack of expertise. Unfortunately, the powers that be, such as the Justice Secretary and the Law Society, seem not to be remotely interested in protecting the consumer, although, to be fair, Longmore LJ has stated that ‘legal expenses insurers exhibit an insouciance to their obligations under the Directive and the Regulations which leaves one quite breathless..’Had it been possible to leave no stars, I would have done so, as I have received zilch in return for my premium.