Compare umbrella insurance
Consider me your average 37 year old. I have been in my profession now for 12 years. I have a family, a mortgage and two cars. I had not even heard of umbrella insurance policies until this year.
The last time I really gave any real thought to insurance is when I was first married, some 15 years ago, when the only thing we owned of real significance was my wife’s wedding ring and an old beat up Honda accord.
We purchased the cheapest auto insurance policy we could find, because the law required us to. We bought one that just barely covered the state requirements. I figured that the car is not worth much and we really did not have anything of value, so if we were in an accident and were sued for damages, there was not much to go after.
So that was my mind set when we first bought insurance and to be honest, over the years it never really changed. I never really even thought about it–even after we bought a home, put money in savings, invested in a 401k and upgraded our cars. We also started to accumulate toys, like a trampoline, a pool, four wheelers and a boat, but still I just bought the bare minimum insurance policies, just to save a buck or two.
It wasn’t until I ran into a great insurance agent who educated me on the challenges that my family faced in buying insurance the way I had that I began to rethink my insurance needs and the benefits of an Umbrella Insurance policy–especially with the frequency of lawsuits in our country–My family was at RISK!
He started by offering up some “what if” scenarios…like my son’s friend falls off the trampoline and breaks his arm; or someone visiting my house hits their head on the bottom of the pool; or a passenger in the car with my 17 year old daughter gets injured in a car crash. All of those scenarios did not seem too far fetched and I started to think about where my insurance policies would kick in and even more importantly where they would max out and leave me exposed to liability.
Here is a short example that illustrates the potential risk with the average auto and home insurance:
Let’s say that your spouse caused a car crash where three other cars are involved and the injured parties have to miss work and have doctor bills for which you are now responsible because you are the policy holder. And lets say the bills and the missed work add up to $750,000 dollars. Let’s also imagine that your auto insurance provides $350,000 in protection. Your home owners policy does not cover your car, so it won’t pay anything, so you are left with a bill of $400,000! That is a life changing burden.
Your house, your savings, your 401k, and your future income could all be targeted! Suddenly you don’t have any money for your kid’s college fund or for that trip you planned to Hawaii for your 20 year annivesary…like I said….life changing!
However, with the addition of a very inexpensive umbrella policy, the entire bill of $750,000 would be covered! That is serious peace of mind.
Umbrella insurance policies are the perfect addition to your insurance portfolio. In fact, my agent quoted me better coverage with an umbrella policy for the same price that I was paying for insurance without an umbrella policy from one of those big insurance companies!
I know what you are thinking, this doom and gloom talk does not pertain to me, this stuff happens to the ‘other guy’, Nothing bad is going to happen to you or your family. Well, I am here to tell you that the odds of you or someone in your care being sued is growing everyday. There are people out there that see accidents as their way of scoring easy cash.
I also can tell you that meeting with a good agent to talk about an umbrella insurance policy is quite painless. A good agent won’t pressure you and remember, you are the consumer, you can always say NO!
It’s worth the 30 minutes it takes to talk to an agent about umbrella insurance policies. I am now better protected for the JUST IN CASE that will come my way, and I feel confident that my umbrella insurance policy will protect my family and our future.
