An umbrella is a great tool that can be used to provide you and your family additional liability protection on top of the liability that exists on your auto, home, and/or boat policies. Most people think an umbrella will cover gaps in coverage which is not true. An umbrella will only provide additional liability coverage for catastrophic events that are covered under your underlying policies.
Liability coverage covers bodily injury or property damage to others that you are responsible for. The average bodily injury liability limits carried by most people are $100,000 per person / $300,000 per accident. You can see with today’s rising healthcare costs – how quickly a bad accident could cause $100,000 in damages to others.
The first step in protecting your assets is raising your auto liability limits to the maximum allowed by your carrier which is usually $250,000 per person / $500,000 per accident. Once those limits are obtained you can purchase a $1mm+ umbrella for additional coverage. These usually cost $250-$500 per year depending on your risk profile (# of drivers in the home, age of the drivers, # of rental properties, presence of boats etc.)
We recommend an umbrella for three types of people:
1. Someone who wants additional liability protection for peace of mind
2. Individuals with significant assets they desire to protect
3. Someone with young drivers and or recreational vehicles that could result in additional risk
Please feel free to reach out to me to learn more and discuss obtaining quotes for this important coverage.