Basics of MetLife Legal Plans
MetLife Legal Plans are legal plans that were created to provide individuals with the peace of mind and knowledge they would need to make better decisions. These legal plans and services are available through the workplace as well as individually. These plans are currently offered to over 18 million employees and their families through benefits provided by over 26,000 employers across the nation. MetLife Legal Plans are one of the largest pre-paid legal benefits companies in the world . They allow people to easily understand how and when they can use the services that are being offered to them.
The services provided by these plans include access to a full range of legal services, representation in civil court for covered matters, and document review and preparation. The number of attorneys or firms that are used with these services are over 5,000 across the nation. Individuals who are able to use MetLife Legal Plans typically have the legal plan as a benefit provided to them through their employer.
Offerings and Coverage
The services offered by MetLife Legal Plans allow employees to obtain legal help, including an initial in-office consultation and a brief service (generally under one hour) on all covered personal legal matters not specifically excluded under the Plan. Covered personal legal matters include, among other things: financial and consumer, civic and health care decision-making, real estate matters, family law, estate matters, and criminal matters except when committed for an employer or while on the job. An employee may be represented by the Plan attorney of the employee’s choice, except in case of conflict of interest with the employer’s account. Employee services are per member, and generally include the following: Some of the Plan covered services are not available nationwide or in all jurisdictions. For example, the Plan is administered by Hyatt Legal Plans which have a nationwide network of provider attorneys in 46 states and DC, with local attorney organizations and panels comprised of approximately 18,500 attorneys (whose primary business is the practice of law) and a few non-attorney providers. The number of attorneys who participate in the plans varies by geographic area, and may not include attorneys in small towns, rural areas and remote locations, or who limit their practice to two or more specialties. For certain matters where coverage is limited, such as in-custody criminal matters, we have negotiated contracts with an alternative provider source such as the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Advantages of MetLife Legal Plans
One of the most basic benefits offered by a plan like those of MetLife Legal Plans is the ability to handle day-to-day legal issues with little to no money out-of-pocket. For instance, a plan user may save a considerable amount of money should they need a simple will, as wills average $300-$500 in price when drafted by a lawyer. With a MetLife Legal Plan, the entire will would be provided at no charge.
In addition to being cost-effective, their plans are also convenient. The plans cover nearly every type of legal issue with a strong focus on elder care and family law.
MetLife Legal Plans also offer prepaid legal services, where all charges will be paid for at the point of service. The plans themselves typically require a monthly payment. In exchange, the services of a qualified attorney covering a broad range of day-to-day legal issues will be offered for no additional charge.
In many ways, the plans from MetLife Legal Plans could save an individual both money and time. They’ve packaged a wide variety of services under a single monthly fee. For many people, they’ll use just a handful of the services each year. For this same group, it’s unlikely that they’ll be spending more than they would, but it’s likely they’ll be saving a significant amount of money over creating a plan by relying on an hourly rate.
Possible Disadvantages
Aside from the cost, there are a few potential drawbacks to Met-Life Legal Plans. First, there may be limits on the number of pre-paid phone consultations you are entitled to with a participating attorney. For example, you may only be entitled to three calls per matter. However, this is not universally true among all plans and some plans have no limit on the number of calls. Second, in some cases, you must call the MetLife toll-free number before having pre-paid legal services performed and in other cases, the pre-paid legal services must be performed with a law firm that contracts with MetLife. Below are a few other examples of requirements that may result in restrictions on the legal services you can obtain through MetLife.
- "The independent law firm will represent, in accordance with the Law Office Guide to Prepaid Legal Services, Inc. guidelines, only those legal matters that are not more specifically covered by your employer’s Plan."
- "This plan does not cover matters between covered family members."
- "Change of counsel, or (legal) representation" may "only be done at the conclusion of an affected matter".
- No coverage is available for "defense".
- "Authorization" must be obtained for "services or expenses in excess of what is set forth in the Prepaid Legal Services Benefits Summary".
- There are some cases in which a "counseling appointment" must be held with the referring lawyer and/or an "independent lawyer" before services under your plan can take place.
- You may have to fill out a request form or file a "request for service" with the company.
Pricing and Cost Effectiveness
When pitting the price of legal services from MetLife Legal Plans against the cost of hiring an attorney independently or paying for individual legal services, the differences may be shocking. The average cost of hiring an attorney is an average of $250 to $350 per hour. Many legal plans provided by financial companies only cost members a few dollars a day to participate. With these numbers I am certain most people will choose to pay for legal services through a legal plan rather than hire an attorney independently . Many families today are struggling financially and finding themselves living week to week. Legal plans are affordable with a low annual pricing breakdown to a few dollars a day for an entire family.
Although I could not find any information on payment plans or discounts that are given to certain demographics such as the military, there are several programs out there that offer these benefits and if you fall into a certain group.
Consumer Feedback and Ratings
When it comes to existing user experiences with MetLife Legal Plans, most reviews are overwhelmingly positive. On Trustpilot.com, users rate the service an average of 4 out of 5 stars based on over 1200 reviews. While many users have positive things to say about the service, there is a handful of negative reviews. Here’s a bit of both:
There are a number of positive reviews highlighting how consistently quick, easy, and helpful MetLife is with all the issues I’ve had. While a few users had problems getting through to speak with someone on the phone, the same people claimed the problems were resolved in no time. Customer service representatives, clearly, seem to go above and beyond in most cases.
Specifically, one user seemed particularly impressed with the general speed in which this service takes to offer great, affordable legal representation. This user was able to set up a will with an affiliated, local attorney for only $200, without much hassle. Most users seem to be clearly impressed with the affordability of the service, and how easy it is to access compared to other legal services they’ve tried in the past.
Unfortunately, there are some users who have had worse experiences than others. Some users reported being on the hook for completely cover the cost of their trial because a MetLife legal professional either messed up their case, or were too busy to prioritize their problems. In these particular cases, users reported spending thousands of dollars when they shouldn’t have had to.
Another issue seems to be a lack of transparency with legal plan prices amongst some customers. One user claimed there was a $600 cover charge for his initial appointment with his legal plan attorney, only to be informed later by a different attorney that services for the case should have been included in the price of the plan. This user claims he was denied a refund.
Some users also complain about a lack of communication from the company. Users claim they did not receive paperwork on time, and friends/family had a tough time dealing with the customer service representatives.
While MetLife Legal Plans seems to do a lot of things right, all companies experience flaws in their services. Consistently, users are impressed with the quality of attorney they were able to access and sought to commend the service on their speediness, attention to detail, and overall help with problem solving.
In addition, most users were very pleased with the affordability not only for legal representation, but in the cost for the plan as well. Most users enjoy the ability to obtain legal representation without any surprise costs, knowing they always have the option to pass up on the service if necessary.
Final Verdict: Are They Beneficial?
As illustrated in the preceding sections, there are both upsides and downsides to MetLife Legal Plans. On the plus side, since it has been around for a long time, it has extensive connections with those who can provide you the legal service you may need, although those connections are limited to those lawyers who participate in the MetLife network. The cost of one of its plans is low compared to what it would cost if you retained a lawyer on your own. It is also easier to understand than many other types of insurance.
On the other hand, you have to accept their plans on an all or nothing basis. It does not offer any flexibility in terms of customizing the plan to meet your specific needs and it requires you to go to MetLife for all services even if you are an experienced user of lawyers and could save money and more effectively address your needs by using lawyers of your own choosing. It only pays 100% of the covered costs, so the total fees charged might be more than some do-it-yourself services, such as a typical simple Will or Living Trust . And finally, the MetLife web site and literature are less than user friendly, which could prove frustrating to someone not used to dealing with insurance-type products.
The value of the plan will really depend on what services you plan to use, such as whether you need a simple Will, a basic Power of Attorney, or a Living Trust, or something more complicated – all of which are covered under the plan. Also, time and convenience are very important for many potential users of the plan. Further, individuals might want this kind of insurance simply because of the peace of mind it affords them.
In general, if you have simple needs in mind and prefer to do most work on-line, such as preparing a Power of Attorney or a simple Will (or Will package) for a set fee, you may want to shop around. On the other hand, if your needs are more complex and you prefer to deal with a single source and would like access to all the services offered – even if that means working through a network lawyer not of your own choosing – then the MetLife program may suit you better.
