Umbrella Insurance

Many policies include liability coverage up to certain ‘standard’ limits – your homeowner’s policy will include personal liability, your auto insurance will include automobile liability, and your business owners policy will include commercial general liability and so on – all essential to protect you from the costs of legal defense and any judgements against you. However, what if the judgement against you exceeds the limit of your policy? Who is responsible for the balance of payment? Simply put, you are and your personal wealth and assets are now being called upon to make that settlement.

 

What is Umbrella Insurance?

Umbrella insurance provides another layer of protection over and above your ‘standard’ limits provided by your home, car, boat, and business policies. As the name suggests, a single umbrella policy can provide that extra layer of liability coverage over more than one ‘standard’ limit so your assets, savings, and the lifestyle you’ve worked hard for are protected from a lawsuit stemming from a covered loss.

  

How does Umbrella Insurance Work?

If you are involved in an accident and are deemed to be at-fault, the injured party may be able to sue you.  Your personal assets would be protected if any potential settlement falls below your insurance limits.  Once your primary liability limits have been exhausted, your umbrella policy would kick in to provide an additional layer of coverage.  If the limits of your umbrella are also exhausted, then your personal assets may be at risk.  It is good to carry as much umbrella insurance as is feasible because the umbrella policy is meant to provide a level of coverage for an unexpected catastrophic event.  There is no way to predict how much coverage you will need so it is always good to get as much as possible based on your personal situation.

  

Why Would You Need Umbrella Insurance?

 

No-one decides who they are going to get into a car wreck with. No-one controls who will slip and fall. No-one determines the extent of a person’s injury before it happens. So, what if that injured person was the CEO of a large successful business or a surgeon or a professional athlete? Aside from their medical bills and the legal costs you may be responsible for, consider the lost wages they may suffer, potentially for many years – do you think your ‘standard’ liability coverage would be enough to cover that?

 

Conversely, if the injured person decided to pursue their claim against you, your personal wealth could well be an influence on what they seek in remedial costs.

 

To meet this need, we offer a very good package of umbrella insurance policies. An umbrella policy lets you have a “backup” plan in the event of a catastrophe, without needing to predict exactly what that catastrophe may be.

 

Let Highmark Insurance Help You with Your Umbrella Insurance Needs.

 

At Highmark Insurance, we are experts in identifying potential risks and key factors in your insurance needs. Let us help review your exposure and recommend the best insurance product to fit your needs.