Personal Umbrella Insurance
Does your homeowners’ insurance provide you adequate liability coverage? Will your existing policy protect you from claims and lawsuits resulting from your acts that have caused damage to others? There are many unwarranted situations that may occur unknowingly and cause damage to others – your pet bites your guest, your water tank leaks and damages your tenant’s valuable possessions, or your little boy damages a neighbor’s property… there are endless such incidents. And in each of these incidents the person held responsible is none but you! You would be sued and as a consequence you will lose your hard earned savings and other assets paying hefty damages claimed by the sufferers. Most often people get insurance to cover these liabilities. But, however generous your insurance company might be, there is always a limit set for coverage and the company won’t pay you much to meet such charges.
To meet these situations Personal Umbrella Insurance is a great option. Not only does personal umbrella insurance provides the additional liability coverage over your existing policy, but also comes to your rescue when you are left with no other insurance to cover your financial obligations resulting from any exorbitant lawsuit. You can get personal umbrella insurance only if you already have liability insurance such as homeowners’, renters’, automobile or boat insurance, more generally called “first-tier” or “first-layer” insurance. Personal umbrella insurance is called "second-tier" or "second layer" insurance. While the first-tier or first-layer insurance comes in immediately when you are met with damages or loss, second-tier or second layer insurance enters the scene after the other coverage have been exhausted and you still require more coverage. For this reason personal umbrella insurance are purchased as stand-alone policy to get protection over and above the existing policy. Since majority of coverage are provided by first tier insurance, second tier insurance usually comes at lower price since they have lower premiums compared to that of first tiers.
There are basically in two ways that personal umbrella insurance provides protection – by providing additional liability coverage over your existing liability coverage, and by providing coverage for certain claims that are usually not covered by other liability insurance such as libel, slander, false arrest, malicious prosecution and coverage for your rental units. In a broader sense your personal umbrella insurance helps you to live a social life peacefully and enjoy the company of friends and relatives at your place. You won’t have to bother about your friend who might sustain injuries in the event of your boundary wall collapsing or your child’s friend breaking his leg while playing on your lawn or your neighbor’s roof getting damaged due to a tree in your garden falling over his house. Moreover things which always keep you withdrawn from socializing and restrict you to freely speak and express yourself for the fear of being sued and imprisonment. But with personal umbrella insurance you can eliminate such issues and freely mingle with your peers as your policy will protect you from all kinds of malicious prosecution, mental anguish and other personal liability incidents.
If you have decided to buy personal umbrella insurance policy, the first thing you must do is buy a regular liability policy so that you have the basic coverage. If you already have liability coverage (homeowners’, renters’, automobile or boat insurance), you are eligible to get personal umbrella insurance and add more coverage for yourself. Since it is available at low premiums but provides for higher coverage, it is extremely beneficial to have personal umbrella insurance, more so if your assets have higher value than your existing insurance coverage. You are a landlord you can save yourself from lots of lawsuits associated with the rental units. Consult your insurance agent or broker to find out which personal umbrella insurance policy is best suited for you that will give you maximum protection with few extra bucks. Since in modern society filing a lawsuit has become a rule even on the slightest pretext, it would be a wise decision to buy this insurance. Though not in ordinary times, you can realize the value of personal umbrella insurance only in the long run should there be any lawsuit charged upon you. So pay a small premium and enjoy a peaceful life even in the event of any worst incident.
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