protecting assets- umbrella/liability insurance?

nphx

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I played hooky today and went skiing. Had a minor bump with someone on the slope - we both brushed it off... but what if they were injured or unethical...

What insurance protects you in these types of cases?
 
One of the requirements for establishing our umbrella policy was high(er) liability limits on both our car and home policies. So we are covered first by the car/home liability insurance then by the umbrella if things really go south.
 
I played hooky today and went skiing. Had a minor bump with someone on the slope - we both brushed it off... but what if they were injured or unethical...

What insurance protects you in these types of cases?
We have a $1M umbrella policy for that sort of thing.

It just renewed at $210 per year, and it required underlying 300/500/100 auto liability and 500K homeowners liability.
 
I assume it would be your umbrella liability policy. Just renewed ours at about $700 for $3mm. Ouch but we feel it's necessary.
 
Any recommendation on a umbrella liability carrier? I don't plan on staying with my current home insurer. I just checked progressive and they seem to detach the policy from homeowners (Personal Umbrella Insurance – Personal Umbrella Coverage - Progressive) . Progressive's rates were great when i tried to switch a year ago but they insisted i needed to re-roof before they insured my home.
 
I just spoke with my ins. agent about this today. I asked if I shot someone while target shooting would I be covered? He said my homeowners policy would cover me. I upped it to $1mm. Cost less than an umbrella policy.
 
I played hooky today and went skiing. Had a minor bump with someone on the slope - we both brushed it off... but what if they were injured or unethical...
What insurance protects you in these types of cases?
You would think that the lift ticket has a paragraph or two about nobody being liable for nothin', most especially not the ski resort or its staff.

We have the same multi-paragraph liability waivers for taekwondo tournaments-- in case someone gets concussed or breaks their nose or has their teeth realigned. Yes, those things have all happened in my age group/weight class, but I wasn't on either side of it.

We do our umbrella liability insurance through Armed Forces Insurance Exchange and I've decided to be very careful about teaching or refereeing taekwondo. Most people get the insurance from their homeowner's or auto policies. If you meet their membership requirements, you might also want to look into USAA.

Good luck with personal watercraft, motorcycles, dogs of vicious-reputation breeds, and other aspects of high-risk lifestyles.
 
Any recommendation on a umbrella liability carrier? I don't plan on staying with my current home insurer. I just checked progressive and they seem to detach the policy from homeowners (Personal Umbrella Insurance – Personal Umbrella Coverage - Progressive) . Progressive's rates were great when i tried to switch a year ago but they insisted i needed to re-roof before they insured my home.

I have mine with Geico and I'm really happy with them. With some carriers if you have 300K on your house the umbrella policy only covers 700K if you a 1M policy. With geico they cover above what you have now.

Also one of the things I like is they answer the phone quickly and a person is on the other end, no recording machines and prompts.
 
We also have a policy with Geico and have been happy with the customer service.

The one bad thing about my experience with them is that they didn't explain the commonly misconceived notion is that a $1m policy only covers the difference between what your homeowners/auto will cover (believe they require $300k coverage on both) up through $1m. It's not $300k plus $1m. Thankfully someone had explained that to me prior to us getting the quote and potentially feeling misled.
 
Funny, but when it was explained to me they said that the 1M is above what you have now. They did say that I had to have 300K on my home owners policy and they would be 1M above that #. I'll have to call tomorrow and make sure.
 
I was speaking to Geico today because I'm thinking about going to a different Home owners company. They only offer a 300K max and I have 500K now. Geico said 300K is mandatory and there was no diff. in price between the 300K and 500K. This should mean that the 1M is above and beyond what ever you have on your policy.
 
I have a $1M umbrella policy with the same ins. company as the homeowner's and autos....State Farm.

Same here. Homeowners, cars and umbrella with State Farm. Been that way for 30+ years. So far so good.....
 
We have homeowner's, cars and umbrella with AAA (well, here it's the Southern California affiliate). Best rates we've found. I've always been happy with them. Of course, we've never filed a claim so that might have something to do with it.

Our car insurance bill is coming in the next week or so, so I'm going to shop around a bit (Geico, progressive, our professional organizations, State Farm, etc.) but don't anticipate a change.
 
We also have a policy with Geico and have been happy with the customer service.

The one bad thing about my experience with them is that they didn't explain the commonly misconceived notion is that a $1m policy only covers the difference between what your homeowners/auto will cover (believe they require $300k coverage on both) up through $1m. It's not $300k plus $1m. Thankfully someone had explained that to me prior to us getting the quote and potentially feeling misled.
That is not true. If you have $1.3 million loss, your primary insurance covers $300k and your umbrella insurance covers $1 million. I also have GEICO umbrella policy. Just checked the policy language.
 
You would think that the lift ticket has a paragraph or two about nobody being liable for nothin', most especially not the ski resort or its staff.

We have the same multi-paragraph liability waivers for taekwondo tournaments-- in case someone gets concussed or breaks their nose or has their teeth realigned.
IANAL but my understanding is these waivers don't waive your ability to sue for gross negligence, etc. For example, if the ski joint failed to maintain its lift and one fell on your head, the waiver wouldn't protect them. Or, if you could show the skier was recklessly hot dogging you could go after him, although the ski place might be somewhat protected by the waiver in this case.
 
That is not true. If you have $1.3 million loss, your primary insurance covers $300k and your umbrella insurance covers $1 million. I also have GEICO umbrella policy. Just checked the policy language.

Thanks, that's the way I thought it was also. You saved me the call to Geico.

With some policies if you have 1M coverage they'll only go to the 1M including the coverage you already have with the first policy in line.
 
For all your activities (except those related to powered vehicles like autos, airplanes, boats, etc.) your Homeowner's Policy's Comprehensive Liability provides coverage for any allegations of negligent acts. This usually includes incidental business activities that occur at your residence premises. (However, there is no coverage for "defective products" that you might sell or produce or for your activities off premesis.)

Umbrella Policies can be one of two types. In the first type, the Umbrella policy is excess to the underlying auto or HO policies. In the second type, the Umbrella can provide some coverage for liability not included in the underlying policies. Policyholders have to ask their agent which kind they might have. An example of possible coverage that might be included in a broader policy would be for serving on the board of a HO association, or other non-profit.

The underlying coverage must be maintained at the limit of liability required in the umbrella. If one of these has lapsed, say for missing a payment, then the Umbrella would have a deductible equal to that underlying limit before it would respond.

The challenge of our system of civil compensation is that justice often means that the person/entity who has funds/insurance ends up liable in order that an injured person can have medical or other compensation paid. This means that people with assets need higher limits of coverage than do the poor, who are dropped from suits when it is clear that they have no funds.
 
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Good luck with personal watercraft, motorcycles, dogs of vicious-reputation breeds, and other aspects of high-risk lifestyles.

$2M umbrella with Germania here in Texas and they don't care a bit about the motorcycle. If you want to insure the motorcycle itself, it's very expensive -- it's not uncommon for some bikes to be totalled by dropping them at a standstill -- but the agent told me they're really not worried about any extra liability for damages caused by something that weights 1/6 as much as a car.
 
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