Published: August 15, 2008 10:20 am            

Get better protection with an umbrella policy

When it comes to protecting your financial well being, most of us think first about auto insurance because we are such a mobile society.

Then comes homeowners insurance if we own property. You have to have it if you have a mortgage because our homes are too expensive to replace without insurance.

And since renter’s insurance is mandatory in few apartment complexes, not everyone has it.

But one type of insurance everyone should consider is extended liability coverage.

Most standard auto policies have about $250,000 of liability coverage. Homeowner’s policies generally carry about $300,000 of liability insurance. Liability limits are likely to be less on renters insurance.

With our society becoming more litigious, more people are finding themselves facing lawsuits.

For example, an apartment fire that starts in your unit and spreads to other renters will leave you open to be sued for negligence. Without some type of liability insurance, your personal assets are at risk.

Recently a car collided with a scooter in suburban Atlanta. The scooter operator is dead and the motorist could face, among other things, a wrongful death suit that could be very costly.

Regular people like you are involved in these events and their financial protection rests with the one thing: an umbrella personal liability policy for $1 million or more.

Depending on your circumstances, the umbrella policy can cost between $200 and $300 per year, a small price to pay for the level of protection such a policy can provide. The more assets you accumulate, the more you may need to protect, so the limits can be increased incrementally for about $75 to $50 per year per million dollars of coverage.

Umbrella personal liability policies can be useful even if a guest in your home slips and falls down a staircase and sustains a serious injury. Or if your pet bites someone who then files a lawsuit.

You obtain an umbrella personal liability policy the same way you get an auto or homeowner’s policy. You fill out a form, decide how much protection you want, pay the premium and your coverage begins when the policy is accepted by your insurer.

It’s not just what you have that is at issue, but what you stand to lose, and that’s why it’s better to be protected than to hope nothing bad happens.



David Colmans is the executive director of the Georgia Insurance Information Service.

        

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