What is a personal umbrella insurance policy?

A personal umbrella policy covers you when your auto, home or other personal lines insurance policy is exhausted. A personal umbrella policy is a great way to protect yourself from a lawsuit that not only can impact your current assets, but your future earnings as well. Unfortunately, everyone is a target for a lawsuit. The simple fact is that in today’s lawsuit-happy culture, the unfortunate scenario of being sued for damages that exhaust your other policy limits is a real possibility. Ask your agent today about a personal umbrella policy.

With nearly every state in the country practicing financial responsibility laws, this makes every driver financially responsible for bodily injury, property damage and potential loss of income claims that may come as a result of a motor vehicle accident.

Similarly, homeowners need to protect themselves from a liability claim. Whether you’re hosting a party and serve too much alcohol, have a slip and fall accident on your sidewalk or a dog bites a neighbor, you can be held liable for medical bills, rehabilitation programs and lost wages.

Scenarios where an Umbrella Insurance Policy would be useful:

Example #1: Your teenage daughter is babysitting the neighbor kids and leaves the house for a moment to run to the store. When she returns, one of the children is badly injured and requires surgery. The child’s medical bills exceed $300,000. The parents of the children sue you to cover the medical bills.

Example #2: Your son dislikes his gym class as well as the teacher. He goes on social media and writes some very reproachful comments about the teacher that leave him in a bad light. The teacher sues and is awarded $500,000.

Example #3: Your 17 year old child decides to pick up some friends and go “cruising” in your car. He loses control of the vehicle while showing off how fast the minivan is. Each child is critically injured. Your umbrella policy helps cover the medical bills.

Example #4: You invite friends over to your home to celebrate the 4^th of July. You provide all the entertainment, food and refreshments, including alcohol. One friend who is known for drinking too much, does just that, gets in his car and drives home getting in a terrible car accident that kills one person. The family sues you and you’re found to be liable for serving the friend too much alcohol.

Example #5: Your rental property’s deck is rotted and your tenant falls through it badly injuring their leg and requiring reconstructive surgery. A jury awards the tenant $750,000 for damages.