Excess liability/umbrella insurance protects your assets from accidents and mishaps. In today’s litigious society, one lawsuit can cause significant financial damages. The more affluent your lifestyle is, the greater the chances of the unexpected coming your way.
The liability provided on underlying policies is considered primary insurance. Excess liability/umbrella insurance responds after the primary coverage limits are exceeded. For example, the liability limit on many homeowners’ policies is $300,000. If someone is injured on your property and awarded damages above that, you’re personally responsible for the additional amount of the settlement.
Some personal injury losses such as claims for wrongful eviction, wrongful entry, invasion or violation of privacy, may be excluded from a typical homeowners insurance policy. However, they may be covered by an excess liability/umbrella insurance policy.
Liability Awards Are on the Rise….Here are some examples of liability exposures that have exceeded coverage limits on primary insurance over the last few years:
- Twitter post – A cyberbully created a blog with a teenage boy as the topic of multiple derogatory posts across various social media sites.
- Pets – A well behaved family dog bites a dinner guest
- Swimming Pools – A guest dove into a pool, sustained injuries and became paralyzed from the waist down and then sued for $30 million.
- Trip & Fall – a delivery man tripped and fell over a child’s toy that was left on the front stairs
- Uninsured Motorist – a newly retired executive was rear ended and sustained fatal injuries. The driver at fault had policy limits of $100,000 – not nearly enough to compensate the estate and family.
Get a conversation started today with an agent Request Excess Liability/Umbrella quote
What’s Responsible for Firming Personal Umbrella Rates? (iamagazine.com)
