No matter our age or where we live, there is a good chance we’ve heard the directive: “Don’t forget your umbrella!” How about you? Can you recall your parent, your grandparent, your sibling, your spouse, or even your child gently reminding you to be prepared for the weather forecast? Today we have a reminder: “Don’t forget your umbrella…Umbrella Insurance that is!”
First, what is Umbrella Insurance?
Like a rain or sun umbrella, personal umbrella insurance is a policy that provides an extra layer of protection for liability risks that exceed your homeowners or automobile policy liability limits. Examples of such risks include:
- You are sued because someone is injured on your property. Such injuries could be the result of swimming in your pool or your pet bites someone. An umbrella policy could cover excess medical bills and legal defense.
- Automobile accidents happen. Sometimes you are at fault. Depending on the severity of injuries sustained by the other party and if your automobile liability limits are maxed out, you may be sued.
- Lawsuits accusing you or your family member of libel or slander. Remember people can and may file suit for what you may have thought was a benign post on your social media account.
Commercial Umbrella Liability Insurance serves to cover excess exposures of your commercial general liability insurance, auto liability insurance, workers compensation or employer’s liability insurance. Some businesses often work with contracts which require that the business carry an Umbrella Policy. Commercial Umbrella Liability Insurance policies may provide:
- Protection for your assets
- Supplementary coverage for lawsuits
- Additional coverage for defense costs
- Repair or replacement coverage for extra equipment, real estate, and other valuable business assets
- Liability coverage for some lawsuits not covered by your commercial auto or business insurance
Is Umbrella Insurance expensive?
This is an important question to ask. Discussing pricing with your agent is the best advice. However, most articles published about personal umbrella coverage indicate the prices are reasonable.
According to the Insurance Information Institute (III) “For about $150 to $300 per year you can buy a $1 million personal umbrella liability policy. The next million will cost about $75, and $50 for every million after that.” Cost, of course, depends on each individual case: size of home, number of cars, home features like a pool, number of teen-age drivers in the household, accumulated assets, etc.
So, what’s the bottom line?
Many might argue that the bottom line is peace of mind. You might even conclude it is an essential policy type for almost everyone. Whether you are interested in a personal umbrella policy or a commercial liability umbrella policy…feel free to contact us. Our John Bailey Insurance team would like the opportunity to meet with you and review your current coverages and options to ensure you have the most appropriate coverages.