When you’re protecting your financial well-being and your assets, it’s important that you have enough liability insurance. Liability insurance is a crucial defense against lawsuits and claims that you’ve caused property damage or bodily injury. Home insurance and auto insurance both provide extremely valuable liability protection, but what if you face a claim that goes above the limits of coverage on your homeowners or auto insurance policy? That’s where umbrella insurance can help you. We’ll explain what personal umbrella insurance is.
What is personal umbrella insurance?
Okay, so here’s the deal:
Liability insurance can help you protect yourself against lawsuits that you’ve caused someone bodily injury or property damage. If the claim is too big and goes above the limits of coverage on your underlying insurance policy (for example your home insurance policy or your auto insurance policy), you’d be responsible for covering anything beyond what your insurance will cover.
Personal umbrella insurance offers an extra layer of coverage that goes above and beyond that which is offered by your other insurance policy. It protects your personal assets by kicking in when your underlying insurance policy is exhausted so that the rest of the claim doesn’t have to come out of your own pocket. It can help provide extra coverage for claims of property damage or injuries caused to others in an accident. (It can also protect against claims of libel, vandalism, slander, and invasion of privacy.)
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How does umbrella insurance work?
Let’s say that you get into a car accident in which you’re at fault. You injure the other driver and their passengers pretty severely, so they have some major medical bills. You also seriously damage their car. Plus they decide to sue. So, you’re not looking at being liable for expenses that go way beyond the limit of coverage on your auto insurance policy.
If the claim ends up being $450,000 and you only have $300,000 of liability coverage, your auto insurance would pay $300,000 and then your personal umbrella policy would kick in to cover the remaining $150,000. So, you’d be able to have the entire claim covered by insurance rather than having to pay the $150,000 that’s left over and it wouldn’t come out of your own bank account.
Tip: If you get umbrella insurance from the same carrier who provides your home insurance or your auto insurance, you might get a better rate.
Do I need a personal umbrella insurance policy?
If you’re considering getting an umbrella insurance policy, you should think about how much liability risk you have. Do you have a teen driver? Do you have a swimming pool? Do you frequently entertain guests? Umbrella insurance policies can help you out if you feel that you have a high risk of being sued for a liability-related claim.
Basically, umbrella insurance can be especially helpful and important for people who have a lot of assets and are at risk of being sued. Like we said, it’s a way to protect your finances and your assets.
How much umbrella insurance do I need?
When considering how much personal umbrella insurance you need, think about your total personal assets and potential personal risks. Does your profession or your location make you a target for a potentially huge settlement? If you’re wondering how much umbrella insurance you should consider, you can talk to one of our agents – we’d be happy to help you evaluate your risk and find the policy that’s right for you.
Typically, coverage starts at $1 million and goes as high as $10 million. And usually, the first million dollars of coverage will cost a certain amount and then each extra million costs will cost an extra fee.
So, that’s a summary of what personal umbrella insurance is and how it works. It provides extra liability coverage beyond the limits offered by your home insurance and your auto insurance. If you ever have a claim that exhausts your home insurance or auto insurance, your umbrella insurance would kick in to help cover the rest of the claim. Getting umbrella insurance is something to consider as a way to protect yourself against huge liability claims and lawsuits.
To get quotes for umbrella insurance, you’ve come to the right place. We would be happy to help you get quotes for your home insurance, auto insurance, and umbrella insurance. We’re pros at helping people save money on the insurance they need, and we can help you find great coverage that will be there to truly protect you. Getting started with your quotes is as easy as filling our online quote form or giving us a call.