Personal Umbrella Liability Insurance

Even if you’ve purchased home and auto insurance with high liability limits, it may not be enough to fully protect your assets. A personal umbrella liability policy covers expenses beyond the liability limits of your home and auto policies and helps protect you against potentially devastating financial loss.

A personal umbrella policy can cover medical bills, a legal defense and other expenses if you hurt someone in an accident or if someone is hurt in your home or is bitten by your dog.

An umbrella policy also may cover things not included in your auto or home insurance, such as being sued for libel, defamation or slander, as well as damage or destruction you cause to another person’s property. If you own rental properties, it can help protect against claims you may face as a landlord; for example if someone is injured in a fall outside of a property you own.

Here’s an example of how it works:

You cause a car accident which results in serious injuries for multiple people. Their medical bills total $400,000 and exceed your $300,000 car insurance policy liability limits. Your umbrella insurance would cover the remaining $100,000. If one of the injured parties is unable to work for an extended period of time due to his injuries and sues you for $1 million in lost wages, your umbrella policy would cover those expenses as well, up to your policy limits. Without an umbrella policy, you’d risk losing your home and financial assets.

Here are some other scenarios that could put your assets at serious risk:

• A visitor breaks his leg in your home after falling from a broken step.
• Fireworks at your 4th of July picnic land on your neighbor’s roof and start a fire.
• Your child’s friend falls from your outdoor playhouse and her injuries require surgery.
• You accidentally put your car in “drive” instead of “reverse” and cause major damage to the building you were parked in front of.
• You write a scathing online review of a local business and are sued for libel.

A personal umbrella policy is extra liability coverage which goes beyond the limits of your home and auto liability coverage to give you an additional layer of security. And because there is a lower likelihood of claims being filed against these policies, the cost of adding an umbrella policy may be less than you expect.

Let us walk you through the advantages of a personal umbrella liability policy to help you determine if it’s a good choice for you and your family. We’d be happy to provide a quote as well.