Do I need an umbrella policy?

Do I need an umbrella policy, you might ask? Keep reading and I will do my best to explain in laymen’s terms the importance of having this valuable coverage.

What is an Umbrella policy? An umbrella policy is an excess policy that provides you with liability coverage beyond the limits of your homeowners and auto policies. Some umbrellas will even protect personal activities too. For example, if you have $250,000.00 of liability coverage on your auto policy and a $1 million umbrella policy, you will have a total of $1.25 million in liability coverage.

Consider this scenario. Let's say you cause an accident, get sued for $800,000.00 and the court orders you to pay the injured party $800,000.00. You only have $250,000.00 in liability protection, leaving a balance of $550,000.00 owed to the injured party. The insurance company will pay the $250,000.00, and you will have to pay rest. If you have an umbrella policy in force, it will pay the difference up to the policy limit.

scenario #2. Let's say you were snow skiing, lost control, and hit someone. They wer injured very bad. They sue you for $1 million and you lose the case. No umbrella = minus a million for you. You have an umbrella with my agency = you don't lose a dime.

Do I need an Umbrella policy? I recommend a $1 million umbrella policy to anyone with assets and money to protect. You don't have to have a million dollars in assets to get a million-dollar umbrella. If you only have $100,000.00 in assets, you still want to protect that money. Using the same scenario as above, the injured party sues you for $550,000.00 which you don't have; but you have $100,000.00 in savings. You will be required to pay that $100,000 to the injured party, reducing your savings to $0.

Umbrella coverage is very inexpensive, starting at less than $175 a year. Don't think it can't happen to you! I have seen many million-dollar payouts during my ten years of claims experience and many verdicts in excess of customers’ policies. Call me today if you think you may need the extra layer of protection. I will help you evaluate the risk and determine how much coverage you need to protect you against the unforeseen.