A personal umbrella policy is a critical step in financial protection, helping ensure your assets – your car, house, investments, even future income – are protected in the event an unforeseen accident exceeds your auto or homeowners limits. Plainly said, it protects against potential fallout to cover additional costs when your standard insurance policy isn’t enough. Every day ordinary citizens are served with a lawsuit, and a personal umbrella policy will help protect your assets – even if the charges are groundless.
An umbrella policy is designed to protect you from almost everything that your auto and home coverage does not, filling in gaps in coverage when the limits of your regular policy are exhausted. In addition to your home and auto, umbrella policies also provide coverage for boats, motorcycles, and other conveyances you may have like recreational vehicles. A few examples are if you crash into some else, liability car insurance pays for legal defense and any judgements or settlements. Or, if your dog bites someone, homeowners liability insurance covers their medical expenses.
Your home and auto insurance policies will only stretch as far as the coverage amount you have. This is where umbrella insurance policies come in. An umbrella policy provides “excess liability insurance” (or, additional coverage) beyond the liability insurance that is in your auto or homeowners insurance policies.
Here is an example: You cause a car accident that results in severe injuries for multiple people. The medical bills are $400,000, which exceeds your $300,000 in liability on your auto insurance policy. Your umbrella policy can cover the remaining $100,000 so that you don’t pay that out of pocket.
Building on this example, imagine one of the insured people is a doctor, or highly paid professional who cannot perform their job for several months due to the injuries of the accident. Because your car insurance liability limit was exhausted, without an umbrella policy your assets such as your house and savings could be at risk. An umbrella policy provides an extra layer of insurance.
This coverage is very inexpensive. Here at the agency I have multiple options for an umbrella policy, with the premium ranging from $150 for the year to a dollar a day. The more cars and property you have the more expensive the policy, but the cost is still very low.
I welcome the opportunity to review your needs and provide additional information about an umbrella policy. Let’s start the conversation, by calling 724-575-7237.
For a list of circumstances that could increase your chances of being sued, take a look at this article from Forbes.