Personal Liability Umbrella Insurance

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[Post New]06/15/2010 10:59
Anonymous
Getting quotes for new house (car and house) and the agent also sent me a quote for a personal liability umbrella insurance policy. I admit, I don't know much about it and never have had one. Done some research and asked friends and family but not much luck. Anyone out there decide to get or not get one? May I ask why? Thanks for your help-
[Post New]06/15/2010 11:00
Anonymous
We have $1 million- decided to get as DD gets older, we have more kids in our house, we have two dogs, etc, just added piece of mind.

Its pretty cheap - IMO, I think its a good thing to have. Hopefully you never use it, but if you need it, its there.
[Post New]06/15/2010 11:02
Anonymous
We have a $1M PUL. Sometimes I think we should raise it to $2M. We have it because we couldn't afford to be sued for that amount, but we can afford the insurance payment.
[Post New]06/15/2010 11:13
Anonymous
Do it exactly for the reasons given by 11:02. Such lawsuits usually come.out of nowhere, but can wholly consume your family + assets (regardless if they are with merit).
[Post New]06/15/2010 11:26
Anonymous
I have a $1M policy. It's cheap - just over $100/year. I like having the added coverage over car/homeowners insurance limits, and also we have some real estate that could expose us to liability.
[Post New]06/15/2010 11:49
Anonymous
We have 5 million. If you have a car accident and someone is seriously injured (or worse) the underlying limits of your policy are not going to be enough, especially if you have assets or income worth going after. Same is true with home-related stuff.
[Post New]06/15/2010 11:52
Anonymous
I have 1M, will probably up it to 2M as the equity in our house recovers. Never underestimate the damage a lawsuit can do. It amazes me how people think that 100/300 limits on your auto insurance are enough. 100K won't pay for a month long ICU stay, much less any pain and suffering damages. And for some odd reason, many people are under the impression that people aren't allowed to sue for more than your insurance limits. They can, they will, and in many states, they can levy your assets and garnish your wages for decades. Umbrella policies are cheap!
[Post New]06/15/2010 14:39
Anonymous
Get it. As much as you can afford. I'm a defense attorney and I can't tell you how scary it is when someone is sued and they don't have adequate insurance to cover the claim. Even a minor car accident can leave you on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. Most likely you will never need to use the umbrella coverage but if you do, you will be so glad you have it.
[Post New]06/15/2010 14:51
SAM2
Member Offline
I agree -- get some. It may feel like a waste of money if nothing happens, but you should be so lucky.

And you can get lots of umbrella coverage for pretty low cost. According to these articles, $200/yr for $1-2m in umbrella coverage, and about $600/yr for $5m, which is far cheaper than the measly $20-30k auto insurance policy you have:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/business/businessspecial3/18insure.html
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/insurance/insureyourhome/p35349.asp
[Post New]06/15/2010 20:57
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:We have $1 million- decided to get as DD gets older, we have more kids in our house, we have two dogs, etc, just added piece of mind.

Its pretty cheap - IMO, I think its a good thing to have. Hopefully you never use it, but if you need it, its there.


Read the articles that PP posted- now I think I should raise ours. What's a "good" number? Is $2 million sufficient? (Realize this is all subjective)
[Post New]06/15/2010 22:04
Anonymous
Someone explained to me in a great way - you are buying the protection, but you are also buying access to the insurance company's attorneys. They are going to fight frivilous lawsuits as well as those where you are at fault. We have a $1M umbrella and I think we're going to up it to $2M.
[Post New]06/15/2010 22:14
Anonymous
We have 5M. We don't have anywhere close to that in assets, but as a PP said, someone could win a judgment and garnish your earning power forever.

[Post New]06/16/2010 11:21
Anonymous
Just increased ours from 1m to 2m- premium only went up $70/year. So glad I read this!
[Post New]06/16/2010 13:33
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Someone explained to me in a great way - you are buying the protection, but you are also buying access to the insurance company's attorneys. They are going to fight frivilous lawsuits as well as those where you are at fault. We have a $1M umbrella and I think we're going to up it to $2M.


This is true, but the insurance company's attorneys will provide you the exact same defense whether you have $25K in coverage or $5 million.

Signed,

In-House Counsel for Big Insurance Company
[Post New]06/16/2010 13:34
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Someone explained to me in a great way - you are buying the protection, but you are also buying access to the insurance company's attorneys. They are going to fight frivilous lawsuits as well as those where you are at fault. We have a $1M umbrella and I think we're going to up it to $2M.


This is true, but the insurance company's attorneys will provide you the exact same defense whether you have $25K in coverage or $5 million.

Signed,

In-House Counsel for Big Insurance Company


I wrote this response--wanted to clarify that I totally agree that umbrella coverage is important to have. I was just correcting a PP's misconception.
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