topic Re: Umbrella Policy in Community Chat

Umbrella Policy

Jordan2 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:20:05 GMT

I have my car, homeowners, and umbrella ( which I get through someone else because Allstate doesn't write them they arranged it for me) insurance policies from Allstate. They are renewing in August. I just wonder if most people get the umbrella policy and is it really necessary? I don't know what it really is, I know it gives you more coverage in case someone sues you.

Re: Umbrella Policy

kitty60 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:22:24 GMT

It really depends on your financial situation. It generally gives you greater limits of protection than each individual policy. Just try to protect your assets.

Re: Umbrella Policy

chickenbutt — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:23:41 GMT

Unless something has changed since i was licensed, an umbrella policy is strictly liability.

So, if you have a huge amount of assets to protect, beyond what protection you have with your auto and homeowner policies, than an umbrella is for you.

When I wrote them, they started at one million dollars of coverage and most of them were higher. Those were written for insureds who were quite wealthy and had a lot of assets to protect, which is the point.

Re: Umbrella Policy

Skididdy — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:32:44 GMT

@Jordan2, I can help you out with this one.

The Umbrella liability policy is strictly liability over and above your auto , home, boat, ect.

So if you are sued, say for a car accident and they win, they exhaust your limits on that car policy and then get the rest from your umbrella policy.

I personally think it is a great thing. Everyone is SUE happy , for the additional cost, it is peace of mind.

The umbrella policy has nothing to do with personal property....it is only liability coverage as someone mentioned.

I hope this helps you.

Re: Umbrella Policy

Mistreatedbycs — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:33:39 GMT

You might want to have everything quoted by State Farm, they write the Umbrella polices and here's what I know.

I own a business and my attorney told me it's "a really good idea" to have a million dollar umbrella policy since the world is full of people who just "sue".

I have my business insurance with another company and my agent for my business building told me even if I don't have a business, it's a good thing to have, someone falls on your sidewalk, you hit someone in your car. Although your car insurance will probably take care of that claim, an umbrella policy gives you added security incase you do run into someone who wants to take your house, your bank account etc.

Mine cost around $100 and for me, I am happy to pay that.

On a side note I just wanted to share incase you are reviewing your policies.

My agent came in yesterday and mentioned he wrote a homeowners policy for a couple who had their insurance through AARP, he mentioned their policy had a $5000 deductible and he got them the same premium with a $1000 deductible. All these little details, who would of thought insurance is so complicated and necessary when that time comes.

Re: Umbrella Policy

novamc1 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:39:40 GMT

DH and I have kept umbrella policies in effect for years. Too afraid of potential consequences if we did not have them.

They are part of our insurance package that includes homeowner and auto insurance. I believe all insurance companies can write these types of policies.

They don't cost much, considering how much they can protect.

Highly recommend them.

Re: Umbrella Policy

sunshine45 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:41:59 GMT

yes, we have an umbrella policy.

would not be without it.

Re: Umbrella Policy

151949 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:42:36 GMT

My DH was in outside sales and worked many years on the road. His company required him to carry an umbrella policy and they paid the premium so we always had one. After he retired we just kept it up.

My parents died in an auto accident. It's complicated but ultimately the person who was found to be at fault in the accident ( because he was drunk & high) tried to sue my DH & I. My lawyer said it was because of the umbrella policy. They thought they could cash into some big bucks because we had that. The insurance co. sent us to their attorney and he handled everything. In the end the judge threw out the case because it had no basis - they filed it again and the new judge threw it out again. They filed a third time and the same judge from the second filing said if they continued to harass us with these base less lawsuits he was going to file charges against their lawyer. Anyway - our lawyer said if we did not have that multimillion dollar umbrella policy they never would have tried this.

Re: Umbrella Policy

kitty60 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:43:46 GMT

The cost can vary depending on your family. When my son was a teenager our umbrella was considerably higher as they consider that a risk. I agree, now with just the two of us it wouln't be worth not getting it.

Re: Umbrella Policy

Happiness Is Inside JOB — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:59:32 GMT

I have an umbrella policy and it is for 1 million and cost around 125.00 per year. I have allstate and about 3 years ago hubby was in an accident during a eastern snow storm. Well the person got a lawyer and claimed they had 5000.00 worth of xmas gifts and a whole lot of other things.

It was a small fender bender, no one was "HURT" at the time but after the accident, it was "SO MANY INJURIES". I only found out the final settlement for one person was 9000.00 but the other passenger was going for big bucks.

I got the umbrella policy and we may NEVER USE IT but I know his auto coverage was around 300,000 per person (off top of my head) so if the settlement is more than that... YOU have to find the money.

I did not want to be in a situation where I had to cash our TSP or even have the drama.

Also, his coworker's daughter hit a jogger and he died. His insurance coverage did not cover the settlement. He ended up trying to borrow money but I never heard the final details as he left my hubby job. The daughter ended up going to JAIL.

For me, I had a fire back in 2008 and I learned it is BETTER to have the coverage and don't NEED it. Then need it and don't have it.

Also, make sure you have the "REPLACEMENT" coverage clause added to your home owners policy. THat saved US, otherwise you get the depreciated value only. We had replacement and that helped us dramatically.

When you have drama in your life via a fire or accident, what gives you peace is the coverage you have. The fire was the most stressful event in my life, but it made me know the value of INSURANCE and my HUBBY. Both are priceless.

Re: Umbrella Policy

novamc1 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:52:55 GMT

Here's a summary of why to have umbrella insurance.

https://www.kiplinger.com/article/insurance/T028-C001-S001-why-you-need-an-umbrella-policy.html

Re: Umbrella Policy

Happiness Is Inside JOB — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 18:55:35 GMT

@Mistreatedbycs wrote:
You might want to have everything quoted by State Farm, they write the Umbrella polices and here's what I know.

I own a business and my attorney told me it's "a really good idea" to have a million dollar umbrella policy since the world is full of people who just "sue".

I have my business insurance with another company and my agent for my business building told me even if I don't have a business, it's a good thing to have, someone falls on your sidewalk, you hit someone in your car. Although your car insurance will probably take care of that claim, an umbrella policy gives you added security incase you do run into someone who wants to take your house, your bank account etc.

Mine cost around $100 and for me, I am happy to pay that.

On a side note I just wanted to share incase you are reviewing your policies.
My agent came in yesterday and mentioned he wrote a homeowners policy for a couple who had their insurance through AARP, he mentioned their policy had a $5000 deductible and he got them the same premium with a $1000 deductible. All these little details, who would of thought insurance is so complicated and necessary when that time comes.

TO CONFIRM WHAT MS. BLING IS SAYING...

She is right, the deductibles make a big difference. I have allstate but a grandfather policy (been with them since 1995) and our auto dedutible is 50.00 and our home owners is 500.00.

SO check those deductibles, when you have an event, have to get 5000.00 or anything over 500.00 can be a major PROBLEM.

Re: Umbrella Policy

itsmagic — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:12:43 GMT

We also have an umbrella policy and I think it is a good thing to have with so many people suing nowadays. Another thing that was pointed out to us is that if you cause a car accident and multiple cars are involved because of it, your regular auto insurance policy might not be enough to cover it all.

Re: Umbrella Policy

geezerette — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:41:08 GMT

Yes, I also have an umbrella policy. In addition to the reasons given by several already, I live on a bit of acreage and have people here often doing various types of work. Not only to have liability coverage for those, but even in the event a trespasser manages to get hurt.

Re: Umbrella Policy

bootsanne — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:50:00 GMT

We own a lot of property, with some rentals. We've had umbrella policies for years and for the small yearly fee, it is worth it for the peace of mind. Like other posters said, everybody is sue happy nowadays.

Re: Umbrella Policy

software — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:54:24 GMT

A big insurance policy can be a double edged sword.

it does depend on your assets.

When someone knows you have the policy, they will sue.

No lawyer worth their salt will sue someone with no insurance and no money.

you might get a judgment but you will never see any $$$

It reminds me of life insurance, I never want to be worth more dead than alive, you know what I mean??

Something else to think about. A friend told me about this recently. You can have water damage covered in your homeowners, and you can have wind damage covered, but do you have "wind driven rain damage"?

Buy what you can afford.....

Re: Umbrella Policy

novamc1 — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 20:04:21 GMT

Seems to me that not having an umbrella policy or a large amount of liability insurance won't help you in court if a judgment is made against you.

So what if you don't have the assets right now to pay off any victims? You still will have that judgment on record for whatever dollar amount other people deem adequate.

And wouldn't this affect your credit rating, ability to get a loan, price of future insurance coverage, ability to buy or rent a home?

Re: Umbrella Policy

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 20:08:50 GMT

Your insurance agent should be able to discuss this with you and then you can make an informed decision.

Re: Umbrella Policy

Mistreatedbycs — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 20:15:15 GMT

Sorry would like to add one more thought....

Both my insurance agent and my lawyer said to me:

How much are you worth (now that includes any of your assets including your savings and any retirement plans)

So we wrote everything down, rounding all the numbers

Next, they asked: How much are you willing to lose? That was a no brainer question.

That answered the question as to why you should have one.

Re: Umbrella Policy

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 20:20:28 GMT

@novamc1 wrote:
Seems to me that not having an umbrella policy or a large amount of liability insurance won't help you in court if a judgment is made against you.

So what if you don't have the assets right now to pay off any victims? You still will have that judgment on record for whatever dollar amount other people deem adequate.

And wouldn't this affect your credit rating, ability to get a loan, price of future insurance coverage, ability to buy or rent a home?

The hard part isn't getting a judgment. It's collecting on that judgment. If someone doesn't work, you can't garnish their wages. If someone doesn't have bank accounts, you can't garnish them.

If they don't own a home, you can't file a judgment lien against the home. If they own a home but it is mortgaged to the hilt, your judgment comes after the mortgage.

In Ohio, judgments have to be renewed every 5 years. Many times our clients just let it drop because they know the person isn't collectible.

However, we did have a client who wanted to keep renewing and eventually was able to get ahold of the debtor's inheritance.