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Old 09-10-2009, 09:49 PM   #21
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We have a $1 million umbrella, and it was about $200/year. Had to max the liability on the cars and homes first, which was $500k. All the umbrella I could buy at the time was 1mil, and all the liability on cars and homes was 500k. Seems like the limits must have gone up, so I need to check on getting more, since our current umbrella doesn't come close to the size of the ASSets that need to be covered.

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Old 09-10-2009, 10:44 PM   #22
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Also, are you supposed to "umbrella up" equal to the amount of your net worth, less home and 401K?
We have umbrella insurance. I know many people do set their amount based upon that kind of "formula" but I have always felt that to be illogical. The amount of umbrella insurance should be tied to the amount of potential claims not tied to the amount of your net worth. That is, let's say your net worth is $1 million. Let's say you get $1 million in coverage. Well, it doesn't really matter if you had no insurance and someone got a $1 million judgment or if you had $1 million judgment and someone got a $3 million judgment against you. In either instance you had inadequate insurance to protect your interests.

Now, many people might say that they think $1 million is adequate. Look at some reports of jury verdicts sometime and you may change your mind. Of course, there is always some potential for a higher judgment than your coverage but in my opinion many people get limits that are too small.

Bear in mind to not only look at the limits but at the coverage provided by the policy including any exclusions.
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Old 09-11-2009, 07:24 AM   #23
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We just increased our umbrella to $2M - for $550. Dog, pool, other risk factors keep that number a bit high, but it declined significantly when the last offspring moved out

Coverage has nothing to do with our assets, and as Katsmeow points out, it doesn't make sense. It has more to do with what the average lawsuit and judgment is in our area, and they aren't declining.

It is usually cheaper to get liability though an umbrella, and the insurer will determine how it splits between auto, home and separate umbrella.

Teenage drivers, especially the male-type (aka walking hormones wearing sneakers) will drive the cost of insurance up beyond belief.
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Old 09-11-2009, 08:17 AM   #24
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I'm surprised your personal umbrella will cover liability from your rented auto lot. Typically personal liability prolicies exclude commercial liability, and will sometimes add back in coverage for residential rental. I'd double-check that it will cover liability from a commercial rental.
Just got off the phone with the agent who writes the policy on my commercial property, and she said what you said, that she would be very surprised if the personal umbrella would cover the auto repair facility.

It's hard getting a straight answer from GEICO. The last I heard from them is that they are not sure (?) if they can write the full 4M umbrella due to the size and the one commercial property, but they offered to just write a 1M policy that and then they would see if they could write the rest later. That sounded like a crazy way to approach it so I'm looking for other carriers.

Who are you folks using, other than USAA since I don't qualify, for your umbrella coverage? I've have my homeowners policy agent working on something, but he didn't seem too up-to-speed on umbrella policies. His response was, "A 4M umbrella? Oh, hmmmm, I've never done that before. Commercial buildings? Hmmmm, I'm not sure.............".

Insurance is so fun!!
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Old 09-11-2009, 09:45 AM   #25
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Most insurance companies will only provide umbrella if they sell the underlying auto or home policy. Because all these policies include some liability, this must be to avoid conflict (who pays first) between policies.

USAA will only write umbrella if they write the homeowners.

GEICO sounds like they will write the $1M but need a closer look by the underwriters before going higher. This is not unusual - we use State Farm (can't get USAA due to Fl home) - and they won't go above $2M without "further underwriter analysis" - which our agent didn't seem to keen on. When the seller doesn't want to sell, it's best not to push it...

$1M is still a hefty amount. Are you far from teenage drivers, especially the y-chromosome type?
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Old 09-11-2009, 10:54 AM   #26
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You can buy umbrellas pretty cheap at Walmart these days, so I see no need to insure them.

Now. seriously, we carry a few million in umbrella coverage, to protect assets since we sold our business. This is one of the things our fee-only advisor insisted we increase considering the cost. He said the sale of the business made us an instant target. We haven't even told most of our family about it. For the price, its cheap (though your quote is only a tad high for that amount as the rate usually comes down for multiple millions). Also, depending on the industry, its often wise to get professional insurance and/or executive liability insurance. My business carried professional insurance, errors and omissions insurance (publisher), in addition to the standard liability and workers comp policies.
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Old 09-11-2009, 11:16 AM   #27
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Also, depending on the industry, its often wise to get professional insurance and/or executive liability insurance. My business carried professional insurance, errors and omissions insurance (publisher), in addition to the standard liability and workers comp policies.
Oww! Ouch! Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

Stuff like this makes coding equations into computer code seem easy. Maybe you business types earn your keep after all.
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Old 09-11-2009, 03:41 PM   #28
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I recently put an umbrella policy in place via USAA. I have you all on this forum to thank for this. I had heard of them before but after reading a thread here a few months back, I thought it was something I should have. I had to up my homeowners and auto insurance a bit to get the policy.
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Old 09-11-2009, 04:41 PM   #29
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Most insurance companies will only provide umbrella if they sell the underlying auto or home policy. Because all these policies include some liability, this must be to avoid conflict (who pays first) between policies. Allstate also demanded a certain amount of coverage on those policies before they will issue Umbrella.

Mine is with Allstate, $3mm for $651/yr. Anything above $1mm, policy holders must provide document for justification (bank statement, etc.).

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Old 09-11-2009, 09:38 PM   #30
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Who are you folks using, other than USAA since I don't qualify, for your umbrella coverage? I've have my homeowners policy agent working on something, but he didn't seem too up-to-speed on umbrella policies.
My umbrella policy is with State Farm...the same as my homeowners, multiple auto, and 'personal property' policies. My agent is very well informed of what SF has to offer, and the details of such. I sat down with him to discuss why I wanted the umbrella, and we discussed how much I needed. I suggested $1M to $2M, and he recommended just the $1M...which after we talked, I agreed was the appropriate amount for my situation.

BTW, the $1M umbrella costs me $183/year.
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Old 09-12-2009, 08:24 AM   #31
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I've always wondered what happens after the insurance company has to pay off on the policy. Is that the end of the policy (will they cancel you)?
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Old 09-12-2009, 09:11 AM   #32
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I've always wondered what happens after the insurance company has to pay off on the policy. Is that the end of the policy (will they cancel you)?
That probably depends on the state.

Here, if you have three claims of any size (no matter how small) on your homeowners' insurance in a period of time (5 years? I think), the insurer can and will drop you. That's the arrangement with the state insurance commissioner I think.

In Louisiana, Allstate and other major insurers will not provide new umbrella policies for any price. This is a post-Katrina thing - - they have decided not to provide new policies for homeowners' insurance and new umbrella insurance somehow got caught up in all of that.

The best I could get when I went to my Allstate agent last year looking for umbrella insurance, was a handwritten phone number on a scrap of paper and a whispered "psst.. we can't cover you but here, call Guido at this number and maybe he can work something out". Typical New Orleans and when possible I don't do business with shady characters.
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