We all know the value of home, life, auto insurance: from catastrophic fire damage to providing for loved ones to body-altering dents and dings of mysterious origin, protecting your largest assets and your family is what insurance is all about.
Many individuals and families, however, stumble at the notion of purchasing additional personal liability insurance, commonly known as an umbrella policy. Find out if an umbrella insurance policy is right for you and your family.
What is Personal Liability Insurance?
Umbrella insurance is designed to help protect the insured from major claims and lawsuits over and above the limits designated by your homeowners, auto, motorcycle, or boat insurance policies. Personal liability insurance can also protect you from monetary claims arising from false arrest, libel, slander, and liability on rental properties you may own. In other words, umbrella policies keep your assets and your bank account safe, covering injuries, damage to property, and certain lawsuits.
While your existing homeowner, automotive, boat, and motorcycle coverage certainly carry personal liability coverage, an umbrella coverage covers claims that exceed your existing coverage limits.
What Types of Coverage does an Umbrella Policy offer?
Bodily Injury Liability
This covers the cost of damages to another person’s body if you, or even your ill-mannered dog, are at fault. This also covers any freak accidents that may occurs on your property.
Property Damage Liability
In the event that you mistook the D for R, and your car had a head-on collision with your neighbor’s garage, then your umbrella has you covered. If your poorly trained pooch decided to avenge your honor at the local dog park, and took a bite out of something he shouldn’t have, personal liability will pay for the resulting hospital fees. If your kid decided she really, really didn’t want to take that computer programming class and wiped out the high school computer lab, your umbrella protects your from the fallout.
Owner of Rentals
If your personal empire includes a few rental properties, than an umbrella policy is a sound investment that can protect you against claims resulting from slips and falls or injuries that may occur on your property.
Slander, Libel, False Arrest, Mental Anguish
In these days of 21st Century connectivity and frenzied social media cruelty, an umbrella policy can protect you should you or a minor in your household say something that would have been best left unsaid.
Who Needs Personal Liability Insurance?
According to Wall Street Pit, an umbrella policy protects you and your assets should you find yourself the target of a civil lawsuit. “A personal liability policy may seem like overkill for individuals who already hold three or four insurance policies. It is true that not everyone needs such protection. But an umbrella policy effectively defends your assets and future income against damage claims that can arise from a wide variety of scenarios.”
In other words: if your assets exceed the limits of your individual policies, then you need the peace of mind that an umbrella policy provides.
How Much Personal Liability Insurance do I Need?
If you have a high net worth, high income potential, or both, then liability insurance is a must. A qualified insurance agent can help you determine how much insurance you should buy. An agent will help you establish your current net worth as well as the value of your future potential income stream. Be sure to acquaint yourself with your existing coverage limits so there are no gaps between your current coverage and your personal liability coverage.
For example, if the limits of your homeowner’s insurance liability is $300,000, but our umbrella doesn’t kick in until 500,000, then you would be responsible for $200,000 in damages. To avoid this gap, you’ll likely be advised to increase your base coverage. To keep thing manageable, it’s highly recommended that you stick to the same company for all your insurance needs.
To learn more about personal liability insurance, contact Royce Williams Insurance today.
