Umbrella

You don't have to be a millionaire to lose a million dollars in a lawsuit.

You'll be surprised at how affordable this valuable protection can be when you think of everyday situations that could jeopardize your financial security. This extra protection known as an Umbrella Insurance Policy, or Umbrella Policy protects your financial assets from the following situations:

• You're at fault in an auto accident, critically injuring a mother and a young child. A jury awards 1.7 million dollars for medical expenses.
• You and your next door neighbor are cleaning the gutters at your home. Your neighbor falls two stories resulting in disabling injuries. He is unable to work for 6 months and a jury finds you at fault, awarding 2.5 million dollars compensation to your neighbor.

These are just a few real-life examples covered by an umbrella policy.

A day in court can cost you a lifetime's work...
"Lawsuit" is a scary word to most of us. That's why we purchase personal insurance to protect ourselves and our families.  However, many people assume their auto or home insurance will provide all the liability insurance they need. That's not necessarily true! 

Personal umbrella liability insurance provides you with an extra layer of personal liability insurance — in addition to your current home and auto insurance. And that can be important coverage if someone is injured in a vehicle accident or in your home. 

Jury awards in personal liability lawsuits are unpredictable and often very expensive.  With the strike of a judge's gavel, all of our assets that we've worked so hard to obtain can be taken away — leaving our families exposed to financial ruin.

Personal Umbrella Insurance is a relatively low-cost way to provide additional coverage if you're sued for bodily injury or property damage beyond the limits of your existing policies. Coverage is usually issued in one million dollar increments, typically in the one to five million dollar range.  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.

Because the personal umbrella policy goes into effect after the underlying coverage is exhausted, there are certain limits that usually must be met in order to purchase this coverage. Most insurers will want you to have about $250,000 of liability insurance on your auto policy and $300,000 of liability insurance on your homeowners policy before selling you an umbrella liability policy for $1 million of additional coverage.