Youthful drivers with violations and/or accidents are no problem
People with international driver's licenses or with less than 1 year driving experience in the US are no problem
People with no auto insurance are no problem, but the umbrella will provide no auto liability coverage.
To qualify for the auto liability coverage provided by our umbrella policies, you must currently have and
maintain primary auto insurance.
Chase Carmen Hunter, www.ChaseAgency.com, and Chase Financial Services Since 1993 offers "stand-alone" umbrella policies. In other words, the insurance company that may issue your umbrella policy does not require you to also insure your home and car with this same insurance company. If you own real estate or autos located in various states, the umbrella policy can insure all them on one umbrella policy and you don't have to change your current insurance companies. We use dozens of highly-rated insurance companies that are rated A or better by A.M. BestŪ.
We all understand the general need for insurance: protecting you and your property from damage, theft, and even natural disaster. There are homeowners policies to protect your house and auto insurance policies to insure your car. But what happens when an accident occurs that results in damage that exceeds the limit of insurance that these policies provide? Or what if you're sued for something that falls outside of the scope of homeowners or auto insurance? Consider the following scenarios:
One evening while driving home from work, you don't see a stop sign and unintentionally hit a motorcycle driver and his passenger. The two people on the motorcycle are injured, resulting in a large lawsuit. Your auto policy liability limit is only $100,000 per person. This $100,000 limit per person covers only part of each injured person's medical costs, lost wages, and loss of consortium. Where will you find the additional funds to cover the costs in excess of $100,000 per person? The options are: from your cash assets, your non-cash assets like real estate and investments, weekly deductions from your future income, and other insurance coverage such as a personal umbrella policy.
Someone is visiting your house. He doesn't see your small dog running through the house and trips over him. The fall results in a broken leg and arm, causing the person to be unable to work. You are sued for a substantial sum.
While on vacation you rent a snowmobile and accidentally hit a cross-country skier, severely injuring the skier. A lawsuit ensues.
You accidentally cause a fire to your townhouse that sweeps through four adjacent townhouses causing millions of dollars in damage and injuring two of your neighbors resulting in several lawsuits.
The Need for Personal Umbrella Liability Insurance
In today's litigation-filled society, you don't have to be wealthy to need more protection than your existing auto or homeowners policies provide. In fact, if you want to fully protect the assets belonging to you and your family, extra coverage is not just a luxury; it's a necessity.
Although your auto and homeowners policies have at least some liability insurance that would be used to settle legal claims, each of the situations listed above are likely to result in settlements that exceed whatever coverage you may have. For example, if a settlement for a covered loss (or judgment, if it goes to court) is $1,000,000 and you only have $500,000 of liability insurance, the insurer would pay its $500,000, but the other $500,000 is your personal responsibility.
An "Umbrella" of Liability Protection
Personal umbrella liability insurance fills in the gaps in two ways:
It increases the liability protection above and beyond the liability limits of your homeowners or auto
insurance
It covers you for liability exposures that are not covered in homeowners or auto insurance, such as
libel or slander.
The personal umbrella policy coverage "kicks in" where your existing coverage ends,
up to limit of the umbrella policy purchased. It can provide additional liability protection from
$1 million to $100 million over and above the limits provided by your existing auto and homeowner's
insurance policies. About half of the umbrella insurers offer uninsured/underinsured motorists
coverage in addition to coverage for bodily injury, property damage, and in most cases, personal
injury to others. Uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage provides coverage for damage to your body
if you are in a car accident, it is not your fault, but the other driver has insufficient insurance limits
to cover your costs or the other driver has no insurance. Our application will give you the opportunity to
select this optional coverage. It typically costs $25-$50 per car per year. No insurance company offers
uninsured/underinsured motorists coverage greater than $1,000,000 regardless of the limit selected for your
umbrella policy. So, you could have a $10,000,000 umbrella policy, but the uninsured/underinsured motorists
coverage will be no more than $1,000,000 but could also be a low as $25,000. Your representative will tell
you the options available after you submit your application.
The cost of coverage
For the amount of protection you get, umbrella liability coverage is not very expensive. Premiums can be as low $200 to $400 a year for $1 million worth of coverage. (Florida rates are higher.) The cost depends on factors such as the limit of insurance that you choose and your own personal risk factors such as having young drivers in your household, owning several real estate properties, and having multiple motor vehicle accidents and violations.
When deciding on the limit of insurance that you want, consider factors such as how much your net assets are worth (including the face amounts of your life insurance); the level of risk that you are exposed to (For example, you rent property to families with children, you have children, you have a swimming pool used by non-household members, you own recreational vehicles (boats, ATV's, RV's, etc.); your prominence in your community; your desire to preserve your estate for your heirs, etc. Although your estate might be worth $1 million, if a judgment of $2 million is rendered against you, not only your assets but your future income and any inheritance you have set aside for your children would be in jeopardy.
Personal umbrella protection can cover:
Liability arising out of your operation of most motor vehicles, including cars, RVs, motorcycles, pickup trucks, and most watercraft.
Incidents involving any property covered by your basic homeowner's or landlord policy.
Incidents alleging slander, libel, defamation of character, invasion of privacy, even false arrest
Business liability coverage, if covered by your basic homeowners policy.
Chase Carmen Hunter, www.ChaseAgency.com, and Chase Financial Services Since 1993 offer services to residents of any country in the world including the following states of the United States of America:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington,
West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Not all products are available in all states.
