You’ve insured your home, your cars, and maybe even a toy or two – so why are we talking about more insurance for your personal property?
Once thought to be for high net worth individuals only, personal umbrella policies have become commonplace for just about anyone who has a variety of policies, or even just basic assets to protect. Unfortunately, in today’s world, lawsuits claiming high damages are becoming commonplace and those who own their own homes are often prime targets for civil lawsuits.
A personal umbrella policy provides coverage above your basic homeowners’ personal liability, automobile liability, and other liability policies of a personal nature. A personal umbrella may also provide coverage for certain occurrences not covered at the underlying policies. Although the actual coverage will vary depending on which insurance company you have, a typical personal umbrella will provide insurance for:
- Incidence involving operation of most motor vehicles, including cars, trucks, motorcycles, RVs, and most watercraft.
- Incidents involving any property covered by your basic homeowners’ policy.
- Incidents involving slander, libel, defamation of character, invasion of privacy, or false arrest.
- Defense costs, even if you are not found liable.
Need an example?
Let’s say you are found at fault for an auto accident and the cost of the injuries you cause to others is $700,000. If the Bodily Injury limit on your auto insurance is $500,000, your auto policy will only cover $500,000 of the amount owed for the others’ injuries. Without an umbrella, that additional $200,000 would have to come from your own pocket. If you had an umbrella policy, that would cover the remaining amount once your auto limit is maxed out.
Umbrella policies begin with a $1,000,000 limit and can be increased up to $10,000,000 if need be. The yearly premium is often much lower than you think. We’d be happy to show you! Contact us today for a quote.