Please check all your facts before making such ridiculous statements. Look at everything the program offers and then decide if it is worth the price. I like being able to get legal advice and finding out what my rights are without worrying about cost. I got my will done at no extra cost. I have an attorney to represent me if I get a speeding ticket. And I would much rather get a discount on other legal services from a quality attorney that has some accountability than picking an attorney out of the phone book and taking what I get. No protection that only costs $16-$26 per month is going to cover every legal situation you could possibly get involved with. If you want a plan that does, find a large law firm and put them on retainer for $5-10,000 per month. You are doing your readers a huge disservice by putting out these slanted and biased statments.

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I would be the first to agree that Pre-Paid Legal Services, INC. Legal Plans do not cover for free every legal contingency under the Sun. I would "NOT" agree however they are not worth the money spent for them. I mean it is better to have a plan that covers "MANY" of your most commonly needed Legal services than none at all.

I will admit upfront as a long time Independent Associate & Member I am somewhat biased on this matter. MY bias is based on experience and not blind faith. I will not argue the point about becoming a Millionaire with the Company. To become a Millionaire with us entails the same things it would take to become a Millionaire in Corporate America. Hard, Smart, & long work. The problem is MOST Networkers flutter from company to company looking for the easy way to the top. No wonder they average $5 a week. lol

I am not sure where you are from, but here in South Texas "competent" legal advice starts at about $75 an hour. Talking to many of my associates across the Country they tell me in their areas it is upward of $125 an hour. That being the case two hours of Legal consultations MORE than pays for your membership.

To me it is about as crazy to tell someone it is not worth having a Pre-Paid Legal Services, INC. Legal Plan because it does not cover ever possible legal happening under the sun for free as telling them it is a waste to have Home Owners Insurance because it does not normally cover rising water damage.

Harold

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I have been a member of Prepaid Legal for a long time. I do have to admit the first few years I did not utilize it as much as we have in the last 5 years. It has been very helpful. When our children started to drive especially our son. He received several speeding tickets early on. He was able to consult with an attorney on how to answer questions from the judge when he went to court. We also received legal service at one hearing when he was trying to get points against his license reduced. We have used the service on multiple consultations before making legal decisions. The service also helped me, in a crisis with a collection agency, with communication with a financial issue. One of the most beneficial services has been with our home business. Every year we have 2 to 3 clients that end up owing money on their accounts. I would have to say that about 90% of those accounts were paid in full after receiving a collection letter from our prepaid legal provider.
I would recommend this service to anyone. It is nice to know that if I have any issues they are there to help guide me in my legal decisions. We have hired outside attorneys for 2 legal situations in the past but started our legal search for those situations at prepaid legal. They have always been very open and up front about the fees that would be charge for services beyond our policy.
This has been a great investment for our family.
Thank you Pre-paid Legal!!!!

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I have been a PPL member and Independent Associate for about 4 or 5 years now. For what I pay for my membership and what I get out of the plan more then pays for itself. I have used it 5 or 6 times now. Once I used it for a speeding ticket and the attorney from the prepaid legal provider firm called in and got my speed reduced and also got the fine reduced, saving me about $80 on the fine and points on my license. Which in tune saved on my insurance. The prepaid legal provider firms are real. They do a wonderful job at what they do for the PPL members. I have never had any proplems with the prepaid legal provider firm or with PPL Inc. I find they go out of there way to help. If you get this plan thinking that it covers everything under the sun, then you are a fool. $26 a month does not do that, use the brain GOD gave you for something other then bashing something that you or someone else may have had a proplem or bad experience with, it happens, in everything. I have had more proplems with my bank, insurance Co., phone Co, ..... you get the picture, then I have with PPL.
I went out to one of there Conventions and found a lot of people that love this Co.
The plans cover what they say it covers and spells out the rest in plain english. And you get a 25% discount off there regular hourly rate, I know this for fact because I have used them for something out side the plan.
Thank GOD for PPL!!!

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Pre-paid Legal is a good company that provides a valuable service. If PPL was in fact a "pyramid scheme" why then would they be invited on to the NYSE? Why would they still be around after 30+ years? Why would they be endorsed by numerous former attorneys general? Would a company using a pyramid scheme have over 15 years of consecutive growth?

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Just what is this "Fraud Discovery Institute", and who is this Barry Minkow guy? I decided to consult the ever popular online source wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Minkow

According to wikipedia.org:

"He [Minkow]served just under seven and a half years, most of them at Englewood Federal Prison in Jefferson County, Colorado." Wiki also says "In sentencing him, U.S. District Court Judge Dickran Tevrizian described Minkow as a man without a conscience. He also rejected Minkow's plea for a lighter sentence as "a joke" and "a slap on the wrist" for someone who had manipulated the financial system."

And well, here's another interesting tidbit from wikipedia: "[The Hon. Judge] Tevrizian dismissed the original judgment on behalf of investors and lenders against Minkow was in 2002. His probation was also cut short as of the fall of 2002. Currently the former convict's outstanding monetary debt remains with Union Bank of California, with principal and interest totalling around $19 million (USD) as of 2004. Minkow pays up to 30% of his $68,500 yearly salary to the bank.[citation needed] Additionally, it has been said that the great majority of his speaker's fees go to pay this debt.[citation needed] Minkow and his wife Lisa live with two adopted Guatemalan children in north San Diego County, California."

Just as a side note, I'm guessing that those video clips appear to be several years old. PPL does not hide anything from it's associates or it's members. It's all in black and white. It's ethical. It's certainly legal. I don't know what Mr. Minkow and Ms. Coenen have to gain by playing old videos of PPL's CEO and slamming the company. I'll have to do a little more research on the "Fraud Discovery Institute".

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Tracy, perhaps I can offer somewhat of an unbiased perspective (or can I?). I was a pre-paid legal associate for about five years. While I can no longer recommend the business model, I have always found great value in the service as have many friends and family that I sold the product to. You are correct in stating that the membership does not cover everything under the sun for the monthly price, it does offer many services that do come in handy and are well worth the $16 a month that I pay for them.

On the business side of it, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors that goes on. Current associates that have posted to this board speak of PPD's ethics, but it's only because the don't know what goes on behind closed doors. Top associates have "no-chargeback" deals which allow them the huge incomes that they brag about from stage. I don't have a problem with them getting side deals, but I do have a problem with it if they tell everyone that they are on the same playing field, because they are not.

On a side note Tracy, you seem really bitter and angry towards PPL. Did you have some kind of personal experience with them?

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Tracy,
Your comments are biased and extremely unprofessional. Pre Paid Legal is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, maybe you have heard of that although I notice you didn't comment on the previous posters statement of that same fact.

Common sense tells you that if a company cheats you out of a couple of hundred dollars that you are pretty much not going to go hire an attorney at the going rate but for $16.00 dollars a month, you can get a PPL attorney to write a letter and recoup those couple of hundred bucks.....can you say "VALUE" to the user.

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Tracy, why not do some active research. You can sign up for a Prepaid Legal plan for $17.00 a month + the "One Time" $10.00 enrollment fee and see exactly how the plan works. It's a month to month contract.

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Tracy, so much of what you have to say on other topics is "right on the money" that it pains me to correct you on this issue.
You can call something whatever you want - it doesn't make it so. You use the phrase "pyramid scheme" for every MLM business that you encounter, and the terms are NOT interchangable. The definition of a pyramid scheme is one in which participants are encouraged or required to "front load" their purchases of the products the company offers. Since PPL sells a SERVICE, and members and associates are prevented from buying more than one legal plan and one identity-theft protection plan, it's impossible for PPL to ever fit the definition of a pyramid scheme.
MLM business structures are used to sell many valuable, and many invaluable, products and services. The MLM industry represents legitimate and illegitimate business opportunities as well. You cannot lump them all together, at least not with any accuracy or integrity. Citibank purchased A.L. Williams; Berkshire Hathaway purchased Pampered Chef - they obviously saw value and legitimacy in an MLM structure.
You'd have even more credibility if you showed a willingness to broaden your understanding of business, rather than paint every industry with one color that you chose long ago.
Re: the PPL service. I've had my membership for over 5 years, and everything I've asked of the provider law firm has been done for me. I estimate I've saved about $2500 in legal fees over that time. In an earlier post, you imply through your choice of words that getting wills done, getting advice on contracts, getting help with stubborn merchants, having representation for moving-traffic violations, and incorporating a business are somehow NOT "real legal needs." They most certainly are. If and when I'm ever sued, my memberships has a generous amount of "pre-trial" hours (you imply that there are none, which is not true of any PPL membership). I don't expect it to cover them all, but it covers a lot more than I could afford to pay for on my own.
Bear in mind that over 40,000 business offer PPL as an employee benefit; I think you'd be hard-pressed to make the case that over 40,000 businesses, large and small, were duped into offering something illegitimate.

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