WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2022
Personal umbrella insurance, or umbrella insurance, is a commonly overlooked coverage. However, if you should experience a catastrophic financial event, such as a major auto accident or an injury that occurs on your property to someone else, a personal umbrella policy could be your best protection. Without this coverage, an incident could be devastating to you financially.
Liability insurance covers you if you make mistakes that harm other people. However, liability benefits have limits, and your plan will only pay up to those limits for all the losses you owe others. Once you reach those limits, you could still owe high third-party costs that you won’t have a liability insurance benefit to pay with. At this point, you could turn to umbrella liability insurance, which is designed to provide additional assistance.
What is Umbrella Insurance?
Personal umbrella coverage begins when you’ve reached the underlying liability limits of an existing policy, like your homeowners insurance or auto insurance. Umbrella insurance may even cover liability claims such as libel, slander and false imprisonment.
Umbrella insurance can help protect you financially from having to personally pay for someone else’s medical or legal bills out-of-pocket if you’re found responsible. Personal umbrella insurance can help protect your savings and other assets from potentially overwhelming liability claims or judgments. 
What Does Umbrella Insurance Cover?
If you’re at fault in a car accident that injures another driver, your regular auto insurance will cover the other driver up to your policy limit. However, if your limit isn’t enough to cover the other driver’s medical bills, umbrella insurance would help cover the additional costs.
An umbrella policy provides the additional coverage you need so you’re not paying expenses out-of-pocket. This extra policy helps protect your bank account, home and other personal property. Your umbrella policy offers you additional protection for many situations that may not be covered under different policies, such as:
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Accidents involving a boat, ATV or other recreational vehicles
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Auto accidents
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Golf course injuries
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Defense fees and additional legal costs
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Personal injury coverage for claims of libel, slander and more
What Doesn’t an Umbrella Policy Cover?
Policy details will vary, so it’s important to check with your agent to learn what is and isn’t covered under your specific policy. An umbrella insurance policy may not cover a variety of items, including:
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Your injuries or property damage
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Property damage or injuries that you intentionally cause
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Damage that you cause while committing a criminal act
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Property damage or injuries that you cause while performing business or professional activities
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Any liability you assumed through a contract before the incident
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Property damage or injuries caused by specific dog breeds or recreational vehicles that are excluded from your policy
You can only purchase umbrella insurance if you already carry auto, homeowners or another form of insurance. Umbrella is a supplemental policy, not a standalone policy.
Usually, you need to meet a specific coverage limit on your home or auto insurance before you can add an umbrella on top. In particular, homeowners’ premiums are usually much higher than umbrella premiums, so your insurance company won’t allow this until you’ve reached your minimum.
A personal umbrella liability won’t cover your business and vice versa. You need to purchase a separate umbrella policy for your business. For instance, daycares operating out of homes are considered businesses, and any liability would be covered under business insurance, not a homeowners policy.
Get Covered Today
An umbrella insurance policy is valuable coverage to have, especially if the value of your assets exceeds your home or auto liability insurance limits. Generally, umbrella policies are relatively cost-effective, so they’re worth the policy cost—especially if you have significant assets that need protection from costly liability claims.
Since 1939, Lupton & Luce Inc. has protected our customers’ personal and business assets in the Long Island area. We can explore your personal benefits, including umbrella coverage, so you have the protection you need from potentially expensive claims.
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