Here’s how umbrella coverage can help:
- Umbrella insurance helps you cover your defense costs when you are found legally liable for injuries and property damage.
- Liability coverage may provide coverage beyond situations covered by your home and auto policies.
- An umbrella policy can help you protect your assets if there’s a legal judgment against you.
- Coverage is available in $1 million increments up to $10 million. Available limits vary by state.
Question I’m satisfied with the insurance coverage we have on our family home and vehicles. But I understand that an umbrella insurance policy can provide extra protection for our assets. How exactly does an umbrella policy do this?
We asked Joel Brekken, a Farmers Insurance agent in Duluth, Minnesota, to tackle this one. He knows all the ins and outs of how an umbrella policy can help you protect your assets.
Answer Think of umbrella insurance as an extra layer of liability coverage on top of your existing home and auto insurance — a personal umbrella over you and your assets. It’s additional coverage over your existing insurance limits, and it can be an affordable way to help you protect your home, cars, boats and other possessions if you’re sued. Coverage is available in $1 million increments up to $10 million, depending on your state of residence.
Remember that liability coverage helps you cover your financial responsibility to others if you’re found legally liable for an injury or property damage. For example, if you’re at fault in a car accident, the liability part of your auto insurance can help pay for repairs to the other driver’s vehicle. Liability coverage in your home policy covers accidents on your property, like a visitor slipping on a loose porch step or a tree in your yard falling on your neighbor’s roof.
The greater the value of the things you own, the more you have at risk. The liability limits on your auto and home policies may not be enough to cover everything you want to protect if you are sued. If the costs of paying for damage you cause exceed the limit on your home or auto policy, your personal umbrella provides additional coverage, starting at $1 million and rising to the limit you select.
You can set up your umbrella policy to provide liability coverage on possessions other than your home and cars, including watercrafts, ATVs, rental properties and vacation homes.
The information contained in this page is provided for general informational purposes only. Read our editorial standards for Insurance Questions and other content. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied. This does not refer to any specific insurance policy and nothing herein is intended to replace or modify any terms in your actual policy.
Farmers may also provide information on topics that are not directly about insurance policies or coverage that we believe could be helpful to you. Information in such articles is not meant as professional advice, and any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
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