You may want to consider personal umbrella insurance if you own a house or car and want to protect these assets against a lawsuit. For most, the amount included with your personal insurance is enough to cover you in case of that situation. However, personal umbrella insurance can help when your personal insurance can’t.
Personal insurance covers and protects items and property that belong to you. Typical personal insurance policies include auto and homeowners’ insurance. Usually, these policies will include liability coverage along with the protection of you and your personal property.
By definition, liability happens in the event of an accident, in or out of your home, which results in someone else’s injury or property damage that you’re held legally responsible for. Claims for liability can include medical bills, legal fees, and accidental damage. That’s why home and auto insurance policies will have a liability coverage component.
However, sometimes the damages accrued are more than your personal insurance policy can or won’t handle. Personal umbrella insurance is a type of personal liability insurance that covers what your personal insurance can’t.
Most personal insurance policies don’t cover lawsuits relating to certain aspects. However, umbrella insurance can cover what’s not usually found in your typical personal insurance policy. Some coverages it includes are for libel, malicious prosecution, or invasion of privacy.
Although personal umbrella insurance can cover more than your typical auto or homeowner’s insurance policies, it can’t protect against everything. You’ll need to consider other types of insurance or options to make up for umbrella insurance’s shortcomings.
Texas Insurance Agency can help you choose the right amount of personal umbrella insurance in case of the unexpected. You can rely on our team when it comes to planning ahead for the future. Contact us today to learn about your personal umbrella insurance options.
Included with Personal Umbrella Insurance
Personal umbrella insurance (PUP), also called personal liability insurance, acts as a fail-safe for your savings and assets. It adds extra liability coverage over and above your other insurance policies. Umbrella insurance will kick at the moment your auto or home insurance’s liability limit has been reached.
For example, if you’re sued for an amount that exceeds the liability limits of any of your personal insurance policies, an umbrella policy helps pay what you owe. Even if you’re not found responsible, personal umbrella policies will still help shoulder the costs relating to it.
Typical umbrella insurance policies also include other members of your household. These members can include your spouse, children, and other relatives that live with you that don’t have insurance under their own name.
Although umbrella insurance is optional, it can come in handy. Most umbrella insurance policies include protection for bodily injury, landlord insurance, and property damage. All of the types of coverage include the costs for lawyer fees, monetary settlements, medical bills, and lost wages of the injured. In the case of landlord insurance, the coverage helps protect you if someone gets hurt at your rental property and decides to sue you.
An example of using umbrella insurance is your teen driver accidentally hitting a pedestrian. Your auto insurance’s liability will pay up to its limit. However, the pedestrian has a high-paying job and can’t work while they’re recovering for the next few months. So now they’re suing you for an amount several times your auto insurance’s liability coverage. In this case, your personal umbrella insurance can cover the difference.
Additional Protection
Your typical home and auto insurance includes liability coverage. However, they often don’t include protection against personal injury like malicious prosecution, invasion of privacy, and libel. However, these are included with most personal umbrella insurance policies.
If you’re on the wrong end of malicious prosecution, an umbrella insurance policy can help shoulder the costs that are associated with the lawsuits. By definition, malicious prosecution happens when someone files a civil or criminal lawsuit for an improper purpose or without probable cause. If the prosecution ends in the defendant’s favor, they can sue the plaintiff for the wrongful accusation.
Sometimes you’ll find yourself or someone in your household sued for libel or slander. Libel is written defamation while slander is usually verbal. For example, if you post something defamatory about someone on a website, they have the right to sue you.
Personal umbrella insurance can also help shoulder the costs that come with lawsuits related to the invasion of privacy. Invasion of privacy happens when someone unlawfully intrudes into someone else’s private affairs, discloses personal information, publicizes them in a false light, or appropriates their name for personal gain. In those cases, the wronged party can sue them.
Coverage Not Included with Personal Umbrella Insurance
Although PUP can protect you against certain situations that your typical auto or home insurance can’t, it won’t protect against everything. Scenarios that aren’t covered by personal umbrella insurance include liability or damages related to your business, personal property, intentional or criminal acts, and contracts.
Personal umbrella insurance is another type of liability insurance. It helps you shoulder the costs that come with accidentally injuring or damaging someone else and their property. However, it doesn’t reimburse you for your own bodily injuries or property damage. Your typical health, home, or auto insurance can take care of that.
This type of umbrella insurance also doesn’t cover you in business liabilities, even if you’re the owner. For example, this can include mal-practice lawsuits against your business. It’ll only cover personal assets and property. Instead, for that type of claim, you’ll need commercial umbrella insurance.
Usually, personal umbrella insurance won’t protect you from liability related to any oral or written contract you’ve entered. If you end up in a lawsuit from someone you’re in a contract with, your personal umbrella insurance probably won’t help cover the legal costs.
A personal umbrella policy won’t protect you from the consequences of your own intentional or illegal behavior. However, this behavior doesn’t include self-defense.
For more information about personal umbrella insurance or other types of personal insurance, call Texas Insurance Agency today.
