Understanding Your Benefits as a LegalShield Member
LegalShield has helped millions of members for over 40 years get legal help quickly and affordably for the most common types of legal issues. A legal plan membership covers the member and the members family for financial assistance and counsel on issues related to divorce, adoption, consumer contracts, debt collection, traffic accidents, criminal charges, real estate transactions, living wills, will writing, firearm rights, bankruptcy, debt resolution, name change, landlord/tenant issues, identity theft, credit repair, warrants, guardian ad litem issues , and many other concerns. Only a few hour long consultations on some issues are excluded from the coverage. About once a year members are contacted and updated on available services as some components of legal plan membership evolve over time.
The LegalShield service network is also known for its work supporting small businesses. Even as these offerings evolve they typically still include cost-effective document preparation, consultations on legal issues and collections services. The same legal services have been offered to employees of larger companies for often minimal cost. All of the benefits add up to more than $400 a month in services for consumers and up to $1000 a month in services for businesses for enrollment fees that can be as low as $17.95 and $39.90 respectively. Members like the legal advice and coaching for common personal and business problems which gives them significant peace of mind.
Reduction in Costs for Legal Services
As part of the LegalShield membership, members save on many common legal needs. LegalShield members benefit from discounted legal services through its agreements with law firms across the country who are anxious to provide a discount because they are in the network. For example, many of your clients will need a criminal matter handled, a real estate closing or rental application processed, or help with a minor estate. These are common legal needs. In a normal business environment, fees for these items might range from $350 to $800 dollars. Through your involvement with LegalShield, you are able to bridge the gap between the need and the resolution for this legal matter at a significant savings to your clients.
The following is a short list of legal service that can be performed at $20, $50, or $100 per request depending on the law firm’s practice groups and fee agreements with LegalShield:
Real Estate
- Real estate closing
- Rental application and agreement (for rental homes and apartments)
- Interpleader (handling estranged parties at the closing).
Estate
- Wills or estate documents
- Minor estate package (short and simple)
- Codicil (updating a will with 1-2 clauses).
Criminal
- Minor criminal matter
- Arraignment in minor criminal matters
- Protection orders
- Expungements.
Family
- Visitation or child support modification
- Protective orders
- Dissolutions (non-business) in some states.
Traffic
– Traffic matters (in some states).
Miscellaneous
- Affidavit preparation
- Deeds of all types
- Bankruptcy and Bankruptcy Chapter 11.
Protection from Identity Theft and Identity Monitoring
LegalShield members enjoy identity theft protection and monitoring services from LegalShield affiliate Kroll. IDrive Rescue is the Kroll offering for legal plan members who want comprehensive identity theft protection and monitoring. This service includes all of the following:
· US-based victim assistance specialists
· $1 million identity theft insurance coverage for financial fraud
· Three credit assessments
· Dark web monitoring for 5 email addresses
· Cyber security scanning
· Malware removal
· ID Restore coverage
The identity theft protection and monitoring service offered to members is super valuable in today’s digital age, when we are constantly connected and information security is of utmost importance. It’s worth it to opt into each of these services for yourself and for your families.
Access to Legal Advice for Emergencies 24/7
Another often-overlooked perk included in a typical LegalShield membership is access to 24/7 legal advice. This feature allows members to simply call a designated number and request consultation with a licensed attorney at any time, day or night. This instant access can be invaluable when the legal question or concern simply cannot wait until the next morning or the following Monday. Consider this situation: A member let’s say a business woman is out of town on vacation when she is in a car accident. She is injured, taken to the hospital for X-rays and CT scans, and is advised she needs emergency surgery. The doctor says it cannot wait. After she is stabilized, she calls her husband to come to the hospital. She is going in for surgery, and she will not have time to find an attorney. She is a LegalShield member, so she calls the emergency hotline. She gets a legal assistant on the phone, who jots down her information and notifies an attorney, who calls her within a few minutes. They discuss the accident, exchange information while the attorney takes notes, and he says the other driver may have been drinking. The attorney tells her he’ll be there by the time she is out of surgery. He will talk to the police on her behalf, and will file a complaint against the other driver. If she is too impaired after surgery to recall much of anything, at least she knows that she is in good hands, and that someone is working on solving her legal problem while she isn’t even conscious. Peace of mind she otherwise would not have. Having access to round-the-clock legal advice over the phone helps make LegalShield memberships so worthwhile.
Other Discounts and Member Offers
In addition to the legal protection offered to members through their legalcare membership, members can use their membership to take advantage of additional member discounts and offers from a variety of sources. One source of special offers is the preferred member discount program which targets national and local retailers, service providers, charities and other non-legal contacts that provide exclusive member discounts for everything from travel packages to home appliance purchases to event tickets and even mortgage protection insurance. These offers can greatly enhance the value of a legalcare membership to members by providing savings in common purchases. The discounts are substantial , on average 10-25%. For example, members can save on meals at restaurants, groceries at grocery stores, at home goods stores, gym memberships, car rentals, flowers and much more. Members can also get discounted hotel stays and tickets to many attractions. Membership discounts are available at thousands of such businesses. Members can even receive discounts on insurance premiums. There is basically no limit to the ways members can use these member discounts to save money. In fact, the amount of savings can often be more than the cost of membership itself over the course of the year.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Membership Perks
As with any paid membership, it’s important that members take the necessary steps to ensure they’re maximizing the value of their membership benefits. In general, practical tips for a LegalShield member include: Becoming familiar with LegalShield benefits and services. This should be your first step in getting to know your membership. Familiarity can help you make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for – after all, you would not pay a monthly Netflix subscription if you never actually watched anything, so be sure to do your due diligence as a LegalShield member, too. Regularly use your benefits and services. Using your benefits on a regular basis can help you remind yourself of what you’re paying for and how you can take advantage of the plan and potentially save money. For example, consistently using your family legal plan allows you to consult with a provider on a wide variety of legal issues you may be facing. Pay attention to new offers. LegalShield strives to provide high-quality benefits for members at a low cost. The firm works hard to ensure members are getting the full value from their plan. Be sure to pay attention to when new offers and services are added to your membership – you can save yourself time and money by keeping up with LegalShield’s newest offerings. These tips are designed to the help you fully appreciate LegalShield and what it has to offer.
Conclusion: The Timeless Value of Perks
In the end the bottom line is full of reward. The value of the member perks offered by LegalShield and Identity Theft Shield continue to grow as a shining dimension of service. When learning about these great benefits it is easy to see that they offer additional value that standard legal professionals do not provide . As you sit down and begin to contemplate your personal legal needs and plans think of the legal content and the savings that LegalShield members receive from their plan. The protection plan membership extends additional value to the member beyond that of coverage in all 50 US states and Canada; it offers huge savings with perks.