Community Chat

[novamc1]

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

[Happiness Is Inside JOB]

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@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.

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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.

[itsmagic]

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. 

[geezerette]

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.  

[bootsanne]

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.

[software]

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.....

[novamc1]

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?

[Lipstickdiva]

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

[Mistreatedbycs]

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.

[Lipstickdiva]

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@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?

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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.