Life is stressful enough, you certainly shouldn’t have to stress about insurance, but without the right kind of protection in place, you could be opening yourself up to catastrophic financial loss far beyond the cover offered to you by your standard auto and home insurance policies.
If you are wondering what umbrella insurance is and what is covered by umbrella insurance, keep reading as we go over important information about this type of insurance.
What Is Umbrella Insurance and What Does Umbrella Insurance Cover?
Umbrella insurance is one type of liability insurance that both businesses and individuals can take out. Umbrella insurance generally covers claims of between $1 million to $10 million and often extend to liabilities that occur outside of American borders.
In addition to offering extra liability protection for property damage or injuries, umbrella insurance may also help cover other types of personal liability scenarios, legal fees and court cases. If you have umbrella insurance, you can usually claim for cases involving defamation of character, slander and invasion of privacy. Importantly, umbrella insurance offers protection of current and future personal assets to prevent them from being used to cover damages which you caused as well as any associated legal fees.
For example, if you cause accidental damage to someone’s car, and are sued for damages, you could be expected to pay a hefty sum and, it is very likely that your auto insurance won’t be sufficient to cover the entire amount. In such cases, umbrella insurance will help you pay the outstanding balance. In other words, umbrella insurance offers additional cover beyond the limits of your standard home insurance or car insurance policy.
Who Needs Umbrella Insurance?
Choosing umbrella insurance isn’t a simple matter. If you’re unsure about getting umbrella insurance, you might want to consider what would happen if the accidental damage that you caused to someone’s car also injured a professional with a big salary who can no longer work as a result of the accident and injuries that you caused.
It might be shocking to hear, but the reality of the matter is that you could be sued for upward of a million dollars. There are many more potentially catastrophic circumstances beyond your control, where an umbrella insurance policy may offer you much needed peace of mind.
What Is Not Covered by an Umbrella Policy?
A personal umbrella insurance policy does not usually include damage to your own property, your business property, or losses related to your business. Umbrella insurance also will not cover damages or protect you against liability resulting from your own intentionally harmful behaviour.
For in-depth information about what is and what isn’t covered by umbrella insurance policies, as well as suggest other types of insurance that you may need in addition to umbrella insurance, it is best to consult with an insurance agent who will be able to give you the right information that you need to make an informed decision.
Get Umbrella Insurance from Paradiso Insurance
If you are considering whether or not you need personal umbrella insurance, or if you would like guidance choosing the right type of insurance policy, do not hesitate to reach out to our trusted and experienced insurance agents. We’ll be more than happy to assist you.