What Is Umbrella Insurance Coverage?
Simply put, a personal umbrella policy is an extension of your liability insurance. It broadens and increases your protection. This increases your coverage limit to relieve the financial strain of medical bills and legal fees in the event of an costly accident.
What Does an Umbrella Cover?
Umbrella insurance protects you in liability situations where your home, auto or boat policies exceed the liability limits. There are two ways this protection extends
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Increases the limit of liability coverage for primary policies: If your auto insurance liability coverage limit is $300,000 and you purchase an umbrella policy of $1 million, You have a total of $1.3 million in coverage.
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Can provide coverage for claims excluded by primary policies. Most liability policies don’t cover damage claims resulting from false arrest, libel, slander or defamation of character. Should one of these nightmare situations occur, your umbrella policy can help you tackle the financial burden.
Should I Buy Umbrella Insurance?
Umbrella insurance is very inexpensive, especially considering the amount of coverage it provides. We always ask, would you rather have an umbrella and not need it or need it and not have it. The answer is always the same.
Examples of umbrella liability claims:
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Car accidents: Even if you keep those hands at 10 and 2 and almost always use your blinker, you could cause a serious accident that includes hospitalization. In this case, your umbrella policy kicks in once the $300,000 liability coverage limit on your auto policy is reached.
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Dog bites: Your little Yorkie-poo hurdles your fence and attacks a neighbor, resulting in extensive medical costs. In this case, your umbrella policy covers the excess costs of hospitalization, care and rehabilitation after your homeowners liability coverage is maxed out.
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Trampolines: Your kid’s friends are doing acrobatic flips, kicks and tucks on the trampoline in your yard and one of them makes a nasty landing, getting seriously injured. In this case, your umbrella liability handles the cost after your homeowners or renters’ liability limits are hit.
