Imagine your child and his friends are playing with the new, family pup in the backyard. Suddenly, the dog bites your son’s friend in the face causing permanent harm. You are legally liable for the costs, and the limits on your homeowners policy aren’t enough to cover the damages. Or this one…imagine your family is heading to your favorite restaurant for dinner on a rainy night. Slippery conditions cause the car to slide off the pavement onto the shoulder. Your spouse over-corrects, sending the family car straight into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Your automobile liability coverage isn’t enough to pay for the injuries to the other car’s occupants.
Think it couldn’t happen to you? The stark reality is that accidents such as these happen nearly every day. Fortunately, protection is available should the unthinkable occur.
Generally speaking, a Personal Umbrella Policy offers an additional amount of liability insurance protection over what most primary liability policies provide. Depending on the liability insurance limits you select, the Personal Umbrella Policy can provide you, your spouse, and children living with you $1 million or more in liability insurance protection for covered losses.
An umbrella policy provides an extra layer of liability protection above your home, auto, and boat policies in the event a covered liability loss exhausts the limits under those policies. This includes coverages like bodily injury, damage to property of others, libel, and slander. For example, if you hit another vehicle and the accident, unfortunately, injures someone else beyond the amount of coverage you have on your auto policy, your umbrella policy steps in and provides an additional amount of coverage for the injured person, while at the same time protecting you and your assets.
If you are reading this and don’t have an umbrella policy, contact your insurance professional and get one. The peace of mind that comes with the extra protection of an umbrella policy is well worth the little bit of extra expense.
