Umbrella Insurance Policy May Help In A Storm | ECPA Claims Blog

Umbrella insurance policies, which offer additional liability insurance for claims exceeding your existing automobile or homeowner?s insurance policies, are most commonly bought by wealthy individuals with substantial assets to protect. But not just the wealthy can benefit from the extra coverage if they own a home or condominium with a pool or trampoline, if they own a dog ? of any kind ? or if they have teenage drivers.

?If you own a home or condominium, it?s definitely worth the time to look into getting one of these policies,? said Nick McCummings, an insurance agent at Harrington Insurance Agency in Brockton, Mass. ?Most companies that offer homeowners and auto insurance offer umbrellas, and umbrellas are fairly inexpensive.?

Because a personal umbrella policy goes into effect after the underlying coverage is exhausted, there are certain limits that usually must be met in order to purchase the extra coverage. Residents need to analyze their personal assets to decide how much insurance they need and if an umbrella insurance policy could suit them.

Umbrella insurance is usually sold in $1 million increments and costs on average between $150 to $300 a year for the first $1 million in additional coverage. The next million will typically cost about $75 annually and about $50 for every million after that.

Every insurance company has its own restrictions and requirements, and there can be wide variations between companies.

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With auto and homeowners policies, the insurance agent who writes the policy has binding authority. That is not the case with umbrella policies. The completed application must be submitted to the company for approval. With limits that can go as high as $20 million or more, insurance companies want to have the final authority on whether to assume the risk.

Umbrella insurance policies have a place in just about every family or individual?s financial plan.

You can read more about this article: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/umbrella-insurance-policy-may-help-in-a-storm-631187/?p=2

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