An umbrella policy picks up where your auto and home liability limits stop. It is the cheapest million dollars of protection you will ever buy.
An at-fault accident with serious injuries is the usual example. Your auto policy pays to its limit, then stops. The umbrella takes over from there.
A judgment or settlement comes in well above what you expected, medical bills and lost wages included.
Auto or home liability covers its stated amount, then the carrier’s obligation ends.
Your umbrella covers the remainder up to its own limit, commonly one to five million dollars.
Legal defense generally comes on top of the limit rather than eating into it.
Home equity, savings, retirement accounts and wages can all be pursued in a judgment above your limits.
The single biggest jump in liability exposure most families ever see.
Attractive nuisances and bite claims are common sources of large homeowners liability losses.
More property in your name means more ways to be named in a suit. Most umbrellas can sit over all of it.
Volunteer roles carry personal liability that a homeowners policy was never built for.
Carriers require your auto and home liability to sit at a minimum level before the umbrella attaches. If your limits are low we raise those first, which sometimes costs less than you would guess.
An umbrella pays what you owe others. It does not repair your own car or house. Many also extend to personal injury claims such as libel and slander.
The umbrella has to know everything it sits above. Anything left off the schedule can be excluded at claim time.
Your current auto and home declarations pages, a list of drivers, and any rental property, boat or recreational vehicle you own. That is enough for me to quote the limit that actually fits.
Most clients are surprised how little it adds to the bundle.